Demons Beneath the Surface
by Temari 88
Summary: After losing their families, Gaara and Naruto have to live under the care of one Iruka Umino. They feel something connecting them, but their time together is limited… will they ever meet again? If so, what will happen…? *revise complete!*
1. Lost and Found

_**4/18/2010**_

_**EDIT! After a lot of thinking and re-reading, I got fed up of the first few chapters because they seemed – to me – incomplete… in the end I decided to look over them again and fill them up, eliminating some holes and other things. ^^**_

_**I definitely like this updated first chapter much better :)**_

* * *

_Hello, people! :D_

_Uhm… I believe I should ask for your mercy about this fiction: I had already posted this thing awhile back, but then I completely abandoned it… ù_ù AND I'M SOOO SORRYYY! *bows profusely* I got stuck with a sort of writer's block over it and couldn't bring myself out… :P_

_So now I've decided to re-post the story, with a few differences (adding some things, basically), hoping on a good response from you readers –meaning positive feedback :D but also constructive criticism._

_I wanted to thank all the good souls that reviewed this story the first time, and I hope they'll appreciate this version as well… don't worry, I've kept all your reviews! :D _

_**SUMMARY**_

_Gaara Sabaku and Naruto Uzumaki: they both have lost their family, or part of it. They find themselves forced to live together for a while with Iruka Umino. Fairly normal boys, they seem, but what if I tell you they have a secret in common? How will they react to one another when they feel something's familiar in the other…? What will happen when they separate? Will they ever meet again…?_

_**PARING(S)**_

_Main__: NarutoGaara/GaaraNaruto (possible future lemon, but we'll see how it'll go)_

_Side__: KakashiIruka (very, VERY hinted because, as much as I don't mind them as a couple, my main interest stays with the before-mentioned ones); other future pairings, I don't really know at the moment…_

_**Characters' ages (of the ones I already know will appear in the near future)**_

_Gaara/__Naruto: 7_  
_Kakashi/Itachi: 24_  
_Iruka/Matsuri: 22_  
_Neji: 20_  
_Yashamaru: 28_  
_Minato Namikaze: 32_  
_Kushina Uzumaki: 28_  
_Saya Uzumaki: 5_  
_Somi Morishima: 63_

_**SETTIN**__**G: **__Modern Japan, let's say somewhere near Kyoto…_

_**WARNINGS**__**:**_ _Violence, murder, strange voices, possible yaoi (lemon), cursing_

"Blah" _talking_  
"_Blah_" _thinking_  
**"****Blah****"** _demons talking_  
_**"**__**Blah**__**"**_ _demons thinking_

* * *

_**I can't seem to understand it,  
**__**how you turned out to be so cold  
You tried but were caught red handed,  
are you happy with your role?  
It's funny to me how you've turned into such a joke...**_

**- False Pretence  
by The Red Jumpsuits Apparatus -**

* * *

_"__Your Kaa-san loves you, my dear angel, remember that. No matter what will happen in the future, I'll always support you and believe in you…"_

_"__I love you too, Ha-ha__… an' I promise nothin' will hurt you with me 'round."_

_"__Haha, why that's good to know!"_

_"__Ha-ha… __? What 'bout Yasha-ji…? Does he love me too?"_

_"… __Ah, I'm sure he care__s, dear… I'm sure he does…"_

* * *

**(CHAPTER 1)**

The day had not brought something new to look forward to; if anything, it was even worse than all the others throughout the whole year. There was not a single happy memory he could bury himself in, least he tried to go back to when the days _were_ actually happy and he had nothing to worry about… but it was difficult to bring to the surface snippets of a time when his life was good: they were few and he was too small to recall most of them… he could not connect images with voices; most of the times he simply rejoiced on the soothing hum of a female voice quietly singing a lullaby somewhere inside his mind.

He had spent the most of the day hidden away in his room. The morning and the afternoon had gone smoothly – or as smoothly as they could when the small square on the calendar was on that particular blue number – for him: being alone left a heavy burden on his small heart, but it was better than the alternative… Oji-sama always tended to be quite on edge on that specific day and it never meant good news for him…

—Yes, it was nothing but routine on the 15th of December.

It was the day everything had changed. It seemed impossible – such a drastic change in less than three years… but maybe, _maybe_ it had started well before then…

-x-

It was past dinner time – the meal had been on the cold side, but it was nothing too bad (and he was used to the treatment anyway) so he had just eaten calmly, as though everything was normal, his small and somewhat pointed face showing no emotion on the outside… his Oji-sama had not taken kindly to that 'blatant' show of (what he called) disrespect and had glared at him spitefully, thinking the boy hadn't noticed. The child, then, had moved to the living room where the fireplace had been lightened an hour before; the heat permeating the silent room kept him warm where he was, nestled in the armchair nearest to the fire with a book in hand – soaking in the peaceful calm while his Oji-sama was hidden in his studio.

After some time, the boy felt a tiny shiver run down his spine as he realized he was being watched and though knowing who it was, he raised his eyes from the page he was reading, seeing the man with light brown hair resting against the doorframe looking down at him intensely. The man's eyes were a dark brown, but in that moment they shone almost black – the fire's light flickering and creating shadows dancing across his unreadable face.

"… Oji-sama…?" said the kid, feeling a strange clench in his stomach: the look the man threw his way was unnerving him even if the stance was apparently relaxed. It wasn't until he opened his mouth, that it became clear that was _not_ the case…

"… _You_…! You are a **monster**… I can't stand this any longer…" whispered the man, so low it was almost impossible to catch. Suddenly, with a movement too fast to see, he raised a hand and released an object from his grasp, making it fly across the room – the aim a bit off due to his anger, he barely missed the boy's head, instead scratching a pale cheek. Looking down, light green eyes took in stainless steel and a dark brown wooden handle—

—a knife.

The brunette cursed roughly under his breath at his poor aiming and quickly reduced the distance that separated him from the child, who was both too frightened to move away and far too deep into the bottomless hatred swimming in those eyes – they seemed to be burning from the inside out; burning from a spite so fierce that his dark soul was shining through and reflecting on the irises.

A hand descended toward the kid's pale face, hitting the delicate cheek with so much force that his small body could not stand the impact, making him fall out of the once comfortable armchair. The boy felt himself lose consciousness rapidly… he looked up just as the man he used to call 'Yasha-ji' only a few years earlier pulled out a gun, pointing it at him, and speaking in the coldest tone he had ever used so far.

"… No one will care if you die. You're a _shame_; you'll pay for the crime your bastard father committed…!"

The child could not take his eyes off the finger pressing on the trigger, he could _see_ the muscles pulling on the metal… he had to get away… but he was blacking out fast… and before darkness claimed him, he heard a growling yet reassuring voice echo in his head.

**"****Leave him to **_**me**_**, kiddo."**

* * *

At 10 pm the winter air was frosty, the pavement slippery with a thin sheen of ice – tricky and dangerous if one wasn't paying attention. Outside of the shelter houses offered, the night was definitely one of the coldest of the passed two months and a half; in that weather, warm breathing formed white clouds of condensed water that rose up towards the sky.

It was starting to snow: the first time that winter for Konoha, despite it being already mid December. The stars were shining down from their safe place, intent on watching over the world below, enchased in contrasting shades of blacks and whites and reds and yellows. Few lonely souls, despite the harsh weather, were walking silently almost like under a spell, limping through the streets - they seemed corpses with a will of their own.

The pale moon was showering her light upon a small figure strolling unsteadily and alone along the side of the pavement. The little boy, with his hair ruffled and sticking out in all directions and fair skin smeared with a substance hard to identify in the poor light and his blank green eyes (unsettling and brought out sharply by the thick black lines around them), was slowly walking away from the place he had called home until an hour before…

As the child passed under a streetlamp, the artificial glow illuminated his tiny frame - he was dressed in blue jeans, a long-sleeved cream coloured shirt and some trainers; the clothes were not clean, though: stains of dark red marred them. The boy's left hand was holding on a worn out teddy bear (its brown fur darkened with the same dried substance as its owner), clutching it as if his life depended on it.

The red-haired suddenly stumbled, almost falling flat on the ground but managing to catch himself on a bus bench; he lifted his face to look ahead, his eyes void: he was reaching the far end of the city center, the houses were a little farther from one another and their gardens bigger. The only sounds reaching his ears were the whispering of some TV, a bout of laughing and a bark every now and then.

The boy was swaying more and more: the harsh weather and the events of merely an hour before were taking their heavy tool on his fragile state, both in mind and body. His vision became unfocused as he started to hyperventilate and stopped in front of the small metal gate of a house, the free hand supporting his light weight on the railing to his right. A wave of nausea hit him violently as the images and the sounds of what happened came back to his mind…

The stare.

The knife.

The gun.

The voice.

The scene he had found before his eyes as he regained consciousness—

He doubled over, his right hand leaving the gate and gripping at the shirt just above his heart. The small red-haired whimpered brokenly and, just before blacking out for the second time in an hour, he whispered a name collapsing against the railing…

"Yasha… ji…"

* * *

Iruka was trying to watch some TV that evening (some documentary on Discovery Channel). The day had been pretty hard on him and he needed a bit of relax…

He worked for 'Konoha Child Care Office' and due to the rather delicate field the center worked on, there was a lot of files to go through on a daily basis, but he was used to the load of work he had to put up with; still, that afternoon had been even more stressful. The thing was: the man was naturally the protective type of person, someone who was ready to help out everyone in need of something – it was a most-needed characteristic for those who worked as social assistants, especially when dealing with children… sometimes, though, being too involved in his cases was a downside of Iruka's personality: it caused his body to suffer of sore muscles from all the stress he accumulated.

Currently, he was worried sick for a child in particular: it was a case of level-three abuse (meaning 'strongly suspected violent/cruel treatment dangerously close to actual physical injuring') over a young boy around seven, on which Iruka had been working for quite some time. His office had been trying to contact the boy's guardian who, from the measly information they had, should have been the child's uncle… unfortunately, all the attempts the man had made throughout more than four months had been unfruitful—as a consequence they hadn't had a chance of seeing the boy yet to verify the suspicious behaviour.

The brown-haired man, that day, had tried once again to call the house in question to convince the guardian to let him go over, talk to the seven year-old and assess what the real situation was. To Iruka's surprise – as it had never happened before - the phone had been picked up and someone had spoken from the other side (supposedly the boy's uncle) – the call had lasted scarcely more than just a few seconds but the words, spoken in a low harsh voice, had been enough to unsettle Iruka.

["… I know who you are. Well, this is the last time you call here. Soon, everything will be over and that _monster_ will be dead… I'll have my vengeance!"]

Those words had sounded like an extremely negative foreboding announcement to the social assistant; they had made a shiver of cold fear make its way down his back: he had a _very_ bad feeling about all that, he just knew it (and he had learned to listen to his instincts of 'mother hen', as someone would call them); unluckily, he couldn't do much more than hope he was wrong, because his boss had taken away from him all the files concerning that case, saying that the phone ordeal was just an 'empty threat'.

"… That old jerk… what if something really happens? He hasn't heard that voice… it wasn't an empty threat, it was deadly serious…"

Normally Iruka would never badmouth his boss: he was a polite man, after all, even if his patience wasn't the best out there. This time, though, he found the elder's attitude absolutely dumb… if not downright stupid and plain wrong – the old man should know better, yet he acted like a rookie… an _extremely_ oblivious one at that. If he was worried for Iruka's well-being, it would have been enough to have a cop or someone else going to the mad man's house with him to keep him safe… or not?

Tired of sitting on the couch Iruka got up, huffing a bit, and went into the kitchen to grab a can of beer from the fridge - to down in a few gulps in hopes of easing his growing annoyance at his boss' decision - and carry the bag with the garbage out of the front door, leaving it beside the gate to be picked up in the morning.

He placed the beer on the living-room table and then headed for the door. The man went out in the cold weather without bothering with a jacket and reached his small garden gate but, as he extended a hand to open it, he saw a little boy face down on the pavement in front of it, laying there unconscious.

Iruka let go immediately of the bag and flung the gate open, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste. He knelt down beside the red-haired child and turned him over. The tiny figure was covered in blood and he had several wounds all over the body (nothing too serious but definitely enough for the boy to collapse); a pale hand was holding to a teddy bear tightly, while the other one was clutching his shirt.

The brown-haired man picked up the child and made his way back indoors quickly: he had to tend to the wounds and try to turn down the high fever the small red-haired had running.

He didn't know who he was, but he resolved he could worry about the boy's identity after he woke up.


	2. Crime Scene

_**4/19/2010**_

_**EDITED! Not much longer than the previous version, but there IS something added – I also looked up some 'police codes' :P**_

* * *

_Hi everyone! :D_

_I won't waste much time with an introduction because all the basic infos are in the first chapter..._

_So, here we meet Naruto :)_

_Read&Review!_

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_**Tonight I'm so alone  
This sorrow takes a hold  
Don't leave me here so cold  
Never want to be so cold**_

_**Your touch used to be so kind  
Your touch used to give me life**_

**- Falling Inside the Black  
by Skillet -**

* * *

_"__Naruto… soon it'll be your birthday, eh?"_

_"__Yes, mom! 'M __gonna__ turn seven!"_

_"__Well, then… this time we'll let you decide whatever present you want, what do you say?"_

_"__Really, dad? Wow, thanks!"_

_"__Saya-chan help too, nii-san…!"_

_"__So, Naru, what do you want?"_

_"__I want us to be together forever an' ever!"_

_"__Ahaha…! Oh, it shouldn't be all that difficult to achieve that, uhn?"_

* * *

**(CHAPTER 2)**

Kakashi had not expected to be called any more that night. He had been just about to go home as his shift was ending in less than five minutes; but when the radio had buzzed to life, signalling an emergency near his location, he immediately went to answer… only to stop as a 10.61 followed by his name was demanded – he had frowned at hearing that, why would they call him without knowing that he was near the area? It didn't take him long to get an answer to his question, because as soon as he had isolated himself from the rest of the shared communications, he had been surprised to hear the chief of the department himself speak… and what he had told him had been like a physical punch in the guts.

["… Maybe it's better if you don't go there, Kakashi. You shouldn't take part in the investigations, you know it very well…"] had been the chief's parting words, but he couldn't _not_ go and he had told that to the old man who gave him permission, with a heavy sigh and a grim understanding of the situation.

-x-

People often forgot how difficult it was to be a 'Smokey'. Kids always said they would like to become one, but they _were_ kids: they did not realize that a cop's work is not based simply on shooting and chasing criminals… sure, that was part of it, but they also were the first ones to see a crime scene and more often than not, it was everything but 'cool'; especially if the house you entered or the people you saw laying there dead (or dying) were familiar – or worse, all too well known.

That night, this was the case: the call had come from some neighbour or another and once the three police cars nearest to the signalled house arrived, they were prepared for what awaited them inside, or _tried_ to be prepared – it was never easy to know, or imagine, what was waiting for you on the other side of the door…

Even the toughest guy, would have felt his stomach turn at what awaited them: the smell of blood was heavy inside the house, further indicating the place as the scene of a rather violent event – a murder, or a few.

As the police officers entered the living room, they instantly fixed their gazes on five bodies lying around on the floor. The wooden planks were covered in large puddles of solidifying blood and there were the visible signs of a fight all round the room: the short legged table in the center was broken in three parts; the TV set had a bloody hole in the middle - probably one of the victims had had their head smashed into the television: there were traces of grey matter and hair - and all the small objects that had rested on the top of the shelves were in pieces; two of the dark brown shelves were half falling, broken photos piled under them… nothing but shards of glass, splintered wood and images portraying happy faces.

The coroner in charge and one of his assistants were examining the corpses: three men, a woman and a little girl around five years old.

_"__… __How sad, she was so young…"_ thought Kakashi, looking at the blonde child lying lifeless in her mother's final protective embrace. The man knew better than to let his emotions get out of control – he actually should not even be there, given the situation… his old boss had closed an eye on it because he had known Kakashi wouldn't have simply stood by watching, doing nothing, no matter how strongly he might have insisted – so he did what his job required of him, committing to memory everything he had to, assessing the situation and trying to put the pieces of the 'puzzle' together in a semblance of order.

Kakashi kept thinking over the declarations his companions had gathered from the neighbours, while still looking at the innocent creature that was being gently picked up out of her mother's arms - she had her big hazel eyes opened wide; her nightclothes were torn, as if someone had held her by the front of the shirt, and soaked in red; in the center of her small chest was a bullet hole… a hit that probably killed her immediately.

The silver-haired man shifted his gray eye on the woman that had been holding the girl near… she had long red hair pulled up in a loose ponytail; her clothes were cut in different places, leaving exposed a lightly tanned expanse of skin with some bruises and her delicate frame was marred all over with dozens' slashes and cuts of different depth that stood out mercilessly - especially a deadly one on her neck… it was a cruel way to end a life: letting the victim slowly lose consciousness while their blood pooled onto the floor before their own eyes…

As for the others, the three men were lying a few feet away from the other two victims. The one near the officer's left foot was a young man with blond hair, almost completely hidden by the dried blood that had oozed out of a rather serious wound on the back of the cranium (_"He's the one that broke the TV… someone smashed his head into it…"_ thought the silver-haired man grimly): he probably did not die right away, but that was definitely the fatal blow, because other than the head and some other minor cuts, the blond man didn't seem to have further visible external damage.

Kakashi moved over the remaining two corpses. They were different from the others: their faces were hardly recognizable. The bodies were littered with slashes as well, only these ones seemed more _claw marks_ rather than knife-induced wounds - which was strange because there weren't animals in the house. On a closer inspection, one could see that several bones (maybe a good three quarters of them) appeared to be broken… from the right arm of the long black-haired man near the splintered couch, to the neck of the grey-haired young man near the shattered window.

What made the difference between the first three victims and the last two was the level of violence and ill will which had most likely fuelled the attacks. It wasn't clear if it had been just one person who did it, or if it had been more; the sure thing was, whoever killed the long-haired man and the glass-wearing one did it with great _rage_… a fierce, blinding, overwhelming rage… no one feeling something other than that would have droved a very sharp knife into the first one's heart (supposedly the same one used on the other victims), hammering it in with such force that one of the other officers was having a hard time taking it out, even yanking with all his strength.

"… Kakashi-sempai." said a voice to the man's right; he turned his head slightly from where he was still looking at the victims, to watch younger man out of the corner of his eye as the other came close.

"Yes, Neji?" he answered, finally looking away from the blond man on the coroner's stretches as the body was driven out the front door, an unreadable expression dancing in the only visible eye.

"We have discovered the identity of the victims, sir. The long-haired one's name is Hebi Orochimaru; the one with the glasses was Yakuushi Kabuto; the other three were—"

"… I know who they are, Neji. But thanks anyway." interrupted Kakashi, his voice tight.

"May I ask what do you mean… sempai?"

"Namikaze Minato was… a friend of mine, and so were Kushina and Saya. Tell me, Neji, have the others searched the whole house?" asked quietly the older officer, not looking over at the slightly dumbfounded white-eyed guy.

"Uhm… well, almost, sir; why?" replied Neji, a bit uncertain.

"Because there's one person missing here… and if he's not somewhere in the house, we'll have to set up a team to find him… I hope he's ok." said Kakashi exiting the living-room with Neji in tow, talking more to himself than to the one beside him. If he had been religious, he would have been praying right now.

"Him…? Who is it?"

"Minato and Kushina's older son, Naruto." explained the silver-haired man.

"A son? And what is he like?"

Before Kakashi could answer, an old officer came down from the flight of stairs standing near the foyer with a small boy in hand. The child had short messed blond hair, blue eyes that looked dull and unfocused and he was dressed in light orange pyjamas; the lower half of his clothing was covered in blood and so were his arms and hands yet, the only wounds that could be seen on his frame were three cuts on each cheek.

As soon as the officer and the boy stopped at the end of the steps, the latter looked up to look around and his eyes fell on the young silver-haired co,p who was staring back at him with concern shining through the veil of professionalism. Blue eyes started to spill tears as Naruto launched himself at the older man, clutching the other's black uniform tightly in his small trembling hands.

"K-Kakashi-jiji…! M-om an' d-dad an' Saya-chan… what h-happ-ened… a-are they…?" sobbed the blond boy, burying his bloody face into Kakashi's shirt.

"Shush, Naruto… it'll all be okay…" the officer tried to console him.

"NO…! T-they k-killed them! I'm a-all alone n-ow…"

"… Were did you find him?" Kakashi wanted to know from the man who had found Naruto.

"Oh… he was huddled in a corner up in the master bedroom; he was shaking badly and obviously in a state of shock…" the man answered, eyeing Naruto with a frown. "He didn't answer when I asked him if he knew what had happened, or if he was wounded anywhere else…"

Kakashi turned his attention to the boy in his arms: he wanted to know if Naruto had witnessed the murders. "Naruto… do you know who did this?"

"Yes…" said the boy, slowly losing his grip on the world. "… Kyuu… bi…" it was the whisper that went unheard by everyone but the silver-haired man as Naruto fainted in his arms.

"… I'll take Naruto home with me and tomorrow I'm going to 'Konoha Child Care Office' to find a temporary solution for him… Neji, finish up here for me, alright? If you need help, you know who to ask to." said Kakashi before standing up and exiting the house with his 'nephew' in his arms, an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.


	3. Nightmares and News

_**4/23/2010**_

_**EDIT! Here the most important change is Yashamaru's family name; I changed it from Fugaku, to Iseki for a simple reason: 'Fugaku' is Sasuke's father's name and if I end up using Teme's parents, it'd be confusing… ^^" Other differencies…? Uhm, nothing major but I filled in some points…**_

* * *

_Hello...! :D_

_Here for you the third chapter of DBS! _

_We switch back to Gaara and Iruka... and yet another dose of angst, in the form of a far-from-pleasant-dream :P_

_Read&Review!_

_Ja ne,_  
_Temari 88 XD_

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_**Hey all I want is what's real  
Something I touch and can feel  
I'll hold it close and never let it go  
Said why...why do we live this life  
With all this hate inside  
I'll give it away 'cause I don't want it no more  
Please help me find a place  
Somewhere far away, yes I'll go and you'll never see me again**_

**- Bullets  
by Creed -**

* * *

"_You should try to sleep, Gaara-kun…"_

"_Hai, Ojii-sama… but I just can't…"_

"_Have you even tried? Why is it that you can't sleep?"_

"_I don't know…"_

"_Come on, Gaara-kun, what's the matter?… You know you can trust me."_

"_I'm afraid, Ojii-sama…"_

"_Afraid? What should you be afraid of? It's not like I'm going to _sneak_ in here and strangle you…! Ahaha!!"_

_"……__…"_

* * *

**(CHAPTER 3)**

The following day, the morning started out with a shy sun making its appearance up in the winter sky, warming, if only just a little, the cold weather. The streets were not very busy with traffic, mostly due to the blanket of snow covering it – those who could, chose the subway or their own feet to go about the city.

Inside the Umino's household, Iruka was calmly preparing some breakfast (tea and toast) for himself and his guest; the boy was still sleeping in his guest room but the man wasn't annoyed at that, far from it: after all the child was wounded, physically (and probably mentally too) drained, cold from walking for who-knows how long in the freezing winter air and, to top it off, he had been running a fever all night; only around five in the early morning the temperature had started to cool down considerably, leaving the kid to sleep off the rest for himself under a heavy, warm comforter.

_"__Oh… speaking of the boy… I'll have to call the office: I can't leave the kid here alone… and I still have to find out who he is…"_ thought Iruka, heading out of the kitchen to go check on his guest a second time since he had woken up.

-x-

_He was still sleeping._

_That much was clear, even if he slept very rarely as of late._

… _The colors were much more vivid then they usually were in reality, the sounds sharper and louder… yet had an echo-like quality to it which identified wherever he was as somewhere imaginary. What gave away the fantasy, though, was the fact that the voice normally housed inside his mind seemed to not be there anymore… rather, it was like a presence standing at his side: invisible and out of sight, but there nonetheless._

_On a closer inspection, t__he place he found himself in wasn't imaginary; it was familiar… _very much_ so._

"Not a dream. A memory, then… or, likely, a nightmare…"_ he thought, warily shifting his gaze from the azure colored walls to the light brown door._

_Certainly a memory _can_ be a nightmare, or it can turn into one soon._

_Gaara was standing in the center__ of his bedroom, looking on as a double of himself was sitting on top of the bottle-green covers of the small bed situated against the wall across from him; the 'dream-Gaara' was focused on some homework, his black-ringed eyes narrowed in an effort to remain awake and finish the classic literature questionnaire he had been given at school that morning._

_Inside the dream__, it was more or less late afternoon yet but the sun's light was coming in through the window far brighter than it should have, with the navy curtains drawn shut usually close to no light came in and both the desk lamp and the neon on the ceiling was turned off. The room was so bright it almost hurt to keep the eyes open, the shadows were just black little spots between the feet – Gaara felt the urge to lift a hand to his face, to protect his eyes from the intensity._

_It was as if__ a small supernova was shining mercilessly inside the bedroom._

_Gaara was starting to __wonder what the actual point in that dream was, since nothing seemed to be happening… just then, though, the wooden door opened to reveal the shadow of a man around thirty years old with light brown hair, the figure illuminated by the light coming in from the corridor behind him. A small smile on the still fairly young face and a tray with some cookies and a glass of juice in hand, he made his way into the room…_

_"__… __Yashamaru!" said the real Gaara, unable to stop himself even if, he realized immediately, the other two could not hear him._

_"__Studying hard, Gaara-kun…?" said the man, setting the tray down on the desk right under the window, which was littered with papers and pens._

_"__Kind of…" answered the dream-Gaara, mumbling and looking up from the textbook he had been reading, bleary eyed and clearly worn out._

_"__If you're tired, it'd be best if you rested for a while."_

_"__You know I don't sleep, Ojii-sama…"_

_"__Oh, yes, how could I forget…? You're afraid to fall asleep. I still wonder what you're so afraid of, though…" Yashamaru laughed a little, in a way that made the dreaming boy shiver, before speaking again. "You fear I'll _hurt_ you while you're sleeping, eh Gaara-kun?"_

_The man__ then left the room without adding anything else or waiting for an answer; he turned his back on the boy still on the bed, who kept his bleary green eyes on the retiring back and wondered what was wrong with the man – it had been awhile since he had felt really at ease when his Ojii-sama was around…_

_Only the Gaara standing, though, __saw something his younger (dream) self had not seen back then – something he _could not_ have seen, not from his position - : the dark expression Yashamaru had worn when he had exited the bedroom. The red-haired boy felt his throat starting to close up, his breathing coming in quicker, rougher gasps: he was starting to hyperventilate; he knew pretty well where the nightmare – the _memory_ – was going and how it would end… but he _really_ didn't want to relieve __**that**__ again… there was a reason why he had tried to bury it all under layers of self-constructed lies. He didn't want to see this all again after everything had finally come crashing down on his small shoulders…_

_His__ will did not count, there, though because every celestial body ends up imploding, once their center has been completely burned out. The explosion has something hypnotic, it's terrible yet magnificent; the light – liquid fire – illuminating the universe with the last desperate bit of energy, burning everything within reach in an extreme vengeance…_

—_Suddenly there was no more light. _

_The bedroom__ had fallen into the deepest dark._

_Yet__, Gaara could see every little thing going on from his spot in the middle of the room: his dream-self had eventually given in to the fatigue and had fallen asleep, textbooks and notebooks strewn all over the covers. He was resting peacefully, for once without pills or any form of meditation – Gaara had long since learned that technique out of necessity, for he didn't like taking medications of any kind if he could help it._

_The passed __period had been a difficult one: more than two weeks of intensive study, with only few precious minutes of meditating… that was what he got for being very smart and therefore attending to a very expensive school with very high standards._

_"__… __No… please, I want to wake up…! I don't _want_ to see this!" shouted Gaara, almost begging, to the darkness that surrounded him in a blanket of pitch black that had a growing feeling of closing in on him, choking him as if fingers were squeezing his pale neck…_

_His pleas fell on deaf ears,__ ignored, and the nightmarish re-counter of the episode Gaara had so desperately tried to forget, continued with emotionless precision._

_The bedroom's door__ suddenly cracked open, letting in the ray of light coming from the corridor behind Yashamaru's figure, illuminating him as he carefully and slowly approached the bed where the dream-Gaara was resting soundly. The man's face was hidden under the shadows dancing over it from the door… yet, the aura that surrounded him could be sensed perfectly – it was undeniably evil, thick of resentment and anger; it was so strong, it would have made anyone's breath get stuck in their throat._

_Yashamaru made his way quietl__y over to the sleeping boy. Once he was right beside the bed he bended down and picked up a discarded pillow off the floor… he remained there for a minute or two, turning the soft object over and over in his hands, a contemplative glint in his dark eyes as he eyed his Oi-kun's peaceful face._

_The on-looking Gaara felt his knees shake as he saw a __familiar glint reflect his Ojii-sama's intentions._

"No… no…! Please! I don't—I _can't_—!"

_Yet again, Gaara's__ pleas were left unheeded: he was bound to the bedroom until the nightmare ended… there was no one who could help him and the small bit of comfort he was receiving in the form of a large, rough hand on his quivering shoulder was lost in the sea of panic and despair he was feeling; he could do nothing but watch Yashamaru lift the pillow just above the dream-Gaara's face before bending forward and press it to the boy's mouth and nose, closing off his aerial ways…_

_The red-haired child__ began trashing in his sleep – because when Gaara fell asleep, it _did_ take a lot to wake him up – blindingly lifting a hand to reach out and try to take off his face the thing that was suffocating him, but obviously failing: Yashamaru held the pillow there with a steadfast hand, firm and uncaring - he was fully intentioned in remaining in that spot until the small boy stopped fighting… until he stopped _breathing_._

_Gaara, while watching everything from a distance, had started __crying – unable to contain the immense sorrow and pain - but he didn't try again to wake forcefully from the dream, he knew nothing would have worked: he had to stay there and relieve for the second time that horrible memory… now even more aware of what his Ojii-sama's feelings had been while he continued to keep him from breathing in; for the first time after what had happened the previous evening, he understood the full entity of the man's hatred towards him… the reason why, for the last two years, he had been constantly pushed down…_

_That had been the first time his okaa-san's outouto had tried to physically hurt him – he had fully intended to kill him, that night…_

—_Suddenly, Yashamaru lifted the pillow from the dream-Gaara and the loud gasps of breathing trying to re-fill the small lungs echoed horribly in the dark bedroom as the kid started coughing and whimpering, slowly coming to, his pupils had almost completely ate the green irises and all the boy in the bed could see were the bright white lights dancing in his vision – the brown-haired man left the room while his charge tried to regain a normal breathing pattern and before the other's eyes adjusted to the lack of light. _

-x-

Just as Iruka was about to open the door to the guest room, he heard a scream coming from the other side. He rushed inside to find the seven year-old awake, sitting upright in bed, his small hands buried in his red hair – clutching them fiercely, almost tearing them from his skull… the man got close to try and calm the boy down but, once he reached him, Iruka saw the child's green eyes: they were so wide in shock, that one would think they were going to fall from their sockets… he had most likely had a terrible nightmare, to be screaming in such a way, yet there were no tears in his eyes, they only seemed haunted… which was pretty unsettling as it was, for such a young child to look like that.

The social assistant gently reached out to the kid but as soon as his hand touched one thin shoulder, the red-haired's frame stiffened visibly, inching away and turning his eyes to pin Iruka with a suddenly frightened look; the brown-haired man felt his stomach clench at the sight of that tiny, thin boy who was trying to scoot away from his touch like an animal trying to escape an armed hunter who wanted to cage it.

_"__What has he got through to act this way…?"_ was all that ran through Iruka's mind.

The kid looked at the man in front of him suspiciously: he had dark brown hair held in a high ponytail, dark brown eyes gazing at him with concern and a rather dark complexion; the man also had a scar that ran across face – from one cheek to the other. He was dressed in a white long-sleeved sweater and light grey pants.

"Hey there." Iruka tried to start a conversation to calm the boy. "You don't have to be afraid: I won't hurt you." promised the man with a small smile.

"…… Where… am I?" asked the kid in nothing more than a whisper, looking anxiously around the bedroom that he recognized as not his own; then he remembered having ran away from his house and walked in the cold for some time. "… Who are you…?"

"Oh…! This is my home: you collapsed in front of my gate yesterday; I brought you inside and took care of your wounds…" explained Iruka indicating the bandages around Gaara's forehead, his left forearm and his right hand; he was still smiling, to encourage the kid to open up a little. "How are you, by the way? You had a bad fever when I found you."

"…… 'M fine…… who are you?" asked again the red-haired.

"Oh, yes sorry…! I forgot to tell you… my name's Umino Iruka, just call me Iruka. And you are…?"

"…………"

"Come on, it's just a name… plus, if I don't know your name, how am I going to call you…?" said the social assistant with a laugh.

"……… Gaara……" was the barely audible answer.

"_Gaara_… don't know why, but it seems kind of familiar…" mused aloud Iruka, rubbing a finger under his chin in thought. "Oh, well, whatever… say, Gaara-kun, are you hungry? I was just about to prepare something for you…"

"Mmhh…" mumbled incoherently the red-haired: he wasn't really inclined to believe in this man (experience _did_ teach him a couple of lessons) but… he didn't seem a bad guy – it was true that he did not know him, or where exactly he was (Gaara didn't know how long he had walked after he left his house) but it was pretty unlikely that he would have had the 'luck' to find someone worse than his Ojii-sama after escaping near-death - plus his stomach seemed to not care for such details, because it had been a while since he'd last ate something and the organ was making itself painfully present by growling fiercely.

With that in mind (and a slight embarrassment at his stomach's protests), Gaara finally decided to give in, getting out from under the covers and following the brown-haired man back into the kitchen; there separated: Iruka immediately went to take out the necessary supplies to prepare some pancakes for Gaara; the kid, while waiting for breakfast to be ready, had made his own the light green arm-chair in the adjoining living room and was currently curled up in it with a magazine he had found on the table in hand.

Not really liking the silence that hovered in the house, Iruka decided to turn on the small white TV resting in a corner of the kitchen counter… as he turned over the pancakes in the fraying pan, a voice coming from the television caught the man's attention, making him turn up the volume to listen more clearly.

"…… it was one of the neighbors that alerted Konoha's police department; the woman in question reported that, little past dinner time, she heard shouts and other strange sounds coming from the neighboring house and shortly after, a gun shot. When the police arrived, they found the owner of the place - Iseki Yashamaru, age 28 - in pool of his own blood… the coroner's first report was suicide, as the man was holding a gun in his left hand… although that could represent an evidence confirming the doctor's impression and the witness' declaration; still, the circumstances are not clear: no signs of an outside intruder were found but some of the wounds on the body are said to be quite strange and the footprints found leading out the house makes the agents think someone exited the building…"

Iruka was dumbfounded at hearing those news: Iseki Yashamaru, dead…! What about the man's charge, then?!

_"__Damn, how I hate it when I'm right…! I knew he wasn't joking…"_ thought bitterly the brown-haired man as he continued to listen to the journalist, pancakes long forgotten.

"After some research, for it seemed that no one in the neighborhood was inclined to answer, the officers discovered the man did not live alone: he was in charge of his nephew… the police, though, was not able to find the child inside the house, therefore a photo has been given out and is currently circulating - if you see him, please contact us or the police department. Here is the boy, his name is Sabaku no Gaara."

At that, Iruka's eyes shot open in shock, becoming the size of a saucer. He stared, open mouthed, at the photo been showed on TV - a red-haired, green-circled-in-black-eyed young boy, dressed in a light brown t-shirt and holding a brown worn out teddy bear.

"Oh my… that's- that's- no _way_…!" trailed off the man, not believing what he just saw and heard.

He moved his eyes from the screen to the boy still sitting in his arm-chair, reading over his TV guide magazine.

_"__Wow. Well, now I _really_ have to call the office… or better yet, I'll go there myself."_ thought Iruka in a far off way.

"Ehm… sir…?" came Gaara's quiet voice, startling Iruka who hadn't heard him move from the living room.

"Uuhh, yes Gaara-kun, what is it?" said the older man, a sweat drop on the back of his head. _"How in the world did he get here without me noticing…?!"_

**"Hahaha!! Look at him… what a loser, I bet he pissed '****is pants…!"** said a mocking, guttural voice inside the red-haired's mind.

_"__Shut up, Shukaku. He's just trying to be gentle."_ replied the boy internally.

**"Oh, yeah?? An', say****, d'you remember what happened last time ya thought someone was 'just tryin' ta be gentle'…??"** growled a bit Shukaku.

_"…_ _That was an unnecessary reminder, thank you. very. much."_ gritted out Gaara, pushing away the images that came forward in his mind – he'd had enough of bad memories finding their way back at him to last him two weeks, at least, he didn't need more. He turned back to Iruka. "Mister, you're pale… are you sick?"

"Oh…! No, no I'm fine." answered the man, shrugging his concern to the back of his mind for a while, when the kid's stomach growled rather loudly, demanding to be fed. "Ah, gomen nasai Gaara-kun… you must be starving! Here, I've prepared—" he stopped mid sentence as he noticed what was left of the pancakes: just a black, burned… _something_. "—Some toasts! Yeah, toasts… how that sounds like?" continued the man, sweat dropping a bit.

"… O-k…" said Gaara, looking at the man in front of him with what was his version of a 'raised eyebrow' – basically an invisible stretching of his lid as the muscle of his eyebrow lifted. _"At least, it's better than nothing…"_

"Uhm, Gaara-kun…?" asked Iruka, glancing sideways at the boy munching his simple breakfast; when he was sure the red-haired was listening, he went on. "Listen… I have to go buy some clothes for you to wear for now, because I don't have things of your size; then I'll have to be somewhere and I'd like if you'd come along: I don't want to leave you here alone."

_"__What do you think, raccoon?"_ the red-haired questioned the voice in his mind.

**"Meh… all in all, this ningen is alright****. I don't smell suspicious on 'im."** said Shukaku in a bored tone.

_"__Ok, then."_ Gaara looked up at Iruka and nodded lightly before returning to his toast.

"Very well. I'll be right back, make yourself at home." offered the man with a smile, before picking up his wallet and his keys and heading for the door to put on some shoes and get out.


	4. First Encounter

_**5/5/2010**_

_**EDIT!**_

_**Alright, in this chapter – aside the old editing of Gaara's mom's name –I changed Karura's family name for obvious reasons. I modified a little the dialogue in italic that makes the 'prologue' of the chapter itself… but the biggest change is the added flashback in the first part - I had to revise Minato's and Kushina's ages to fit everything (they're 2 years older now) and I 'sketched' a rough, uhh, 'map' of Konoha so I have a clear idea of where the important places are (that's mostly for me, but it'll confuse people less too, I think).**_

_**Ja ne,  
Temari 88**_

* * *

_Hi there! :D_

_In this chapter we have both Gaara with Iruka and Naruto with Kakashi at 'Konoha Child Care Office' :D_

_Well, get on with it!_

_Read&Review! XD_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88_

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_**Why do I miss someone  
I never met, with bated breath I lay  
Sea winds brought her to me**_

**- Cadence Of Her Last Breath**  
**by Nightwish** -

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_"…__Is that crying baby your son…?"_

_"__Oh! Yes he is… his name is Naruto."_

_"__He seems to have a strong spirit, if the determination on gaining attention is any indication…"_

_"__Haha! I guess you're right!… Are you here for your baby too?"_

_"__Yes. The red-haired one beside Naruto-kun."_

_"__What's his name? He's really cute too!"_

_"__His name is Gaara."_

_"__Quite a powerful name, that is… maybe too heavy for such a small child, isn't it?"_

_"……"_

_"__Oh! Sorry, it probably is none of my business!"_

_"… __I wish for him to be strong."_

_"__Well who knows, maybe ours dear sons will end up meeting later in life!"_

_"… __Maybe… that would be a nice turn on Fate."_

_"__Screw Fate, if it's gonna happen, it'll happen! I'm Uzumaki Kushina by the way, what's your name?"_

_"… __Karura. Iseki Karura…"_

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**(CHAPTER 4)**

Kakashi's night had not been very pleasant: he had remained awake to make sure his 'oi' was okay… the man had been quite surprised that Naruto had managed to sleep through most of the night without nothing more than random squirming and some whimpering - considering what had happened to the kid's family it would have been normal to, at least, be tormented by horrific nightmares due to the shock.

_**[Flashback]**_

_Kakashi, still with Naruto cradled carefully in his arms, had quickly left the Namikaze household and settled to drive back home; he had laid the boy on the back seat of his car, then went to start the vehicle, inserting the rear gear before speeding off towards the __center__ of Konoha and past the building housing the 'Child Care' department – place he would most definitely have to go in a few hours to decide his ex-sensei's son's destiny – only to stop once he reached the east side of the large park making up the most popular place in all the city (for kids, families and lovey-dovey couples especially) and, therefore, making the apartments around the area always bristling with activity._

_It was probably the last place people would think one such as Hatake Kakashi would take up as his home, yet he had been living there for almost as long as he could remember living in Konoha… actually he had been living in the city for ten years now, but it had been six since he had moved to his current residing address. Before then, his sensei had been kind enough to have him live with him until he got the nerve to finally ask his unofficial fiancée to become official by going to live together – by then, Kakashi was old enough to take care of himself (18) and had absolutely refused to interfere with Minato-sensei's and Kushina-san's love life (which proved to be good because by the end of the year they had gotten married and shortly after that, he got news of an addition to the family arriving in nine months)._

_Kakashi, at last making his way into his apartment, had laid Naruto gently on his bed and proceeded to clean the dried crimson off the boy's face, hair and hands before taking the bloody clothes off, leaving him in his childish underwear and tucking him under the comforter up to his neck. The man stood there, watching with sad eyes the newly orphan child, for two minutes then he lifted up the hand still clutching the orange pyjamas stained in red, sighed and went to search for a paper bag or something similar to place the clothes in: they were evidence, after all, so he couldn't just wash them or throw them away and as a cop, he had the duty to take all the evidence up to the lab._

_It had been around midnight, when the sleeping boy had first given sings of movement… until then, he had laid in bed in the same exact position Kakashi had placed him, the only indication that he was actually still breathing had been the rhythmic rise and fall of his small chest; Kakashi had decided to let the kid rest as peacefully as he could and given how still the blond had been, he had deemed it safe to go sit in his living room. At midnight, he had thought he had better to go to bed himself – the day had not been easy on him either – and was about to head to the bathroom, when Naruto's voice attracted his attention… turning around, Kakashi saw the boy stretching his arms forward, his face a bit scrunched up while whimpering lowly, as if he was trying to reach at something – or _someone_ – and the silver-haired man knew exactly what Naruto was seeing… _

_He made his way to the bed, sitting on the edge on the child's right, he placed a hand on the tanned and slightly clammy forehead and slowly caressed the skin there with his thumb to soothe the boy who was pretty much a mix between an oi and an outouto; the gesture – something he had seen his sensei doing a lot to his children, especially when they were ill – proved to be a great help to calm Naruto, who went back to a peaceful (dreamless) sleep in less than a minute. Kakashi waited for some more minutes, least it repeated, but when the blond's breathing returned regular and deep, the man felt reassured and left to prepare for bed as well – his usual light sleeper habit would alert him of any movement or sound coming from the boy next to him._

_**[End Flashback] **_

Naruto had been, without a doubt, emotionally shaken… yet since that morning though, since the kid had woken up, it was as if nothing of the horrible things he had witnessed but hours before were affecting him; it was like he didn't remember why he had been taken to Kakashi's house… like he didn't remember his parents and sister being killed by two strangers right in front of his eyes (supposedly), and that he was the only one left now… no, Naruto was mostly the same as always – if a little quieter and not as happy as he would like others to believe – and Kakashi wondered if it was an act, or if he really couldn't recall what had happened… and if the latter was accurate, how long will it be for everything to come crashing down on the boy's mind? It was probably too soon to determine which of the two hypothesis was correct.

For the time being, one of the things that unnerved the cop was Naruto's apparent lack of wounds – besides those cuts on his cheeks that had healed at an incredible rate – opposed to his clothing been soaked with blood… plus there was the boy's last word before blacking out: _'Kyuubi'_… it still puzzled him; he couldn't find an explanation for that. He could only hope for an answer from Naruto, but he was fairly sure the kid wouldn't even remember of having said such a word: he hadn't even realized he had said something, most likely.

-x-

At present, Kakashi and Naruto were heading to 'Konoha Child Care Office' to try and find a solution for Naruto… a place to stay, at least for some time, because as much as he would have gladly liked to, Kakashi could not take in the boy for the time being due to the risks of his on-field officer status; the man was not too keen on thinking of his little 'outout-oi' living with a stranger (Kakashi was already planning to have a research made on whoever would be chosen; he was a little paranoid and was already thinking how many of the 'families' working with the social assistants were in fact psychos/violent/paedophiles…), but he figured it was at least better than having him go to the orphanage.

"… Kakashi-jiji, where are we going?" the voice of the seven year-old sprung up, while the kid looked up to the silver-haired man while holding his hand. The navy blue of the small spare sweater Kakashi had found at home doing wonders to bring the ocean-blue eyes stand up.

"We're going to a place where we can find a house for you to stay." he answered.

"Oh… ok. But that way I won't be seeing you…"

"Nah, Naruto. I will come and visit you often, no matter where you'll be staying!" said the man, ruffling blond hair with his free hand.

"Promise?" asked Naruto, anxiously.

"Of course, I promise." replied the police officer.

"… And what if something happens, and you're too far away?"

"Nothing will happen, Naruto. I'll look out for you, even if I'm not there with you… your parents would never forgive me, if I let you get in trouble…!" replied Kakashi, joking a little but watching closely the boy's reaction at the mention of his parents.

Naruto's shoulders slumped a little as he lowered his head, trying his hardest to hide the teary eyes from his Jiji: he didn't remember exactly what had happened the night before; his memories arrived to a certain point, but after that it was darkness until that old officer had found him… one thing he knew, though, was that he had to be strong, otherwise also Kakashi would find a way to leave him, to not stick around… and if he did, then he would find himself really and totally _alone_ because Kakashi was the last remaining member of his family - even if they were not bounded by blood.

_"__Now that kaa-san and tou-san and Saya-chan are gone… I have no family left… I loved 'em so much… an' we were havin' so much fun…! But those bad men came. I jus' wanted ta do something…! But… an' then—" _the boy's train of thought was interrupted by a sharp pain, like an electric jolt coursing through his brain, and he closed his eyes tight willing the sting to go away.

When he reopened them, he was being led inside a large building bristling with activity: dozens of people passing the duo with files in hand, a few children seated quietly in the hall (on their own or with some adults), phones ringing no stop… even some other police officers.

As the blond boy let his eyes wander, he could feel his guts twist in a way they had never done before.

_"__What's this feeling…?"_ he thought.

"Now, Naruto, stay there; I'll go have a chat with the chief here. I won't be long, ok?" said Kakashi indicating a small playroom with all sorts of toys, where some other kids were drawing, playing with cars or sleeping.

The child was a bit uneasy to be left alone, even for a short time, but nodded anyway and entered the room, sitting on a yellow, fluffy cushion and picked up a random book that rested on the low table in the center; all the while hoping Kakashi would come back soon.

* * *

Iruka knew he was ten minutes late, but for once he was sure nothing bad would have happened… after all he had always been one of the first to start his job – probably _the_ first – given the fact that he arrived mere seconds after his boss every morning and was the last one to leave his office in the evening. Yes, Iruka was sure that arriving a bit late, especially due the circumstances, was nothing to be looked down upon. As it was, he and Gaara had just put a feet inside the man's office and already a knock on the door was heard, demanding his attention.

The brown-haired man sighed lightly before giving whoever was on the other side permission to enter: it was Hide Matsuri, his newly hired assistant. The girl was as old as him (22), had shoulder-length black hair pulled up in a pony tail, light brown eyes and was wearing a flowery dress that reached her knees with a dark purple jacket, heavy tights and a pair of ballerina-like shoes with a 'fluffy' sort-of-bow. She had been working at 'Konoha Child Care Office' for the past two months.

Matsuri was a kind girl, she was calm and hardworking; she loved her job and didn't complain when Iruka asked her to take care of some of his simplest cases, if he was too busy with some of the nasty ones (like the past week: the man had been too focused on Gaara's case and had relied on the girl to through most of the others); she always accepted without a thought… all in all, the girl had been a great acquisition.

"Uhm… Umino-san, sorry to disturb but the boss told me to find you as soon as you arrived: he wants to see you immediately. It seemed pretty important; he was agitated…" Matsuri informed Iruka, her brows slightly furrowed and eyes moving about the room, until they rested on Gaara and she noticed the boy looking out the window on his left.

"Ah, thank you Matsuri-san, I'll come along immediately; let me take off the jacket…" answered the man while also thinking _"No wonder the old fart would be 'agitated'. I HAD told him the other day! He should have let me go to Iseki's house…! And now, see what happen—!"_

"Ehm, excuse me, Umino-san… who's the child…?" Matsuri interrupted the man's inner tirade. "He kinda looks like the one the police are searching…"

"Yes, in fact he is that very child. I found him on my doorstep yesterday night, but I discovered who his identity only this morning watching the news…" explained the brown-haired social assistant.

_"… __Someone's searching for me…?"_ thought Gaara, a bit taken aback. He was certain the information did not come from any of his former neighbours – all the members of the families in a mile radius form the place he used to live in hated him… not because he had done something, purely because they saw and heard Yashamaru treat him like a criminal… that was how 'weak spirited' people act when they are with a group of other 'idiots': the typical 'flock of sheeps' attitude.

**"****Of**** course they're lookin' for ya, ya stupid! After what happened, it's obvious! The police would know ya lived with that fucker!!"** growled the raccoon-like creature in the boy's mind.

_"__Yes… you're right. You think they will send us to some orphanage…? I hope not: I kind of like this Iruka… he's been so kind, even if he's known me just for a day…"_ continued the kid.

**"****Ye****ah, he's not bad… for a ningen."** agreed the sand demon, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

_"__Need to remind you that I'm a human, too?"_

**"****Nooo, but ya**** can't deny that you're **_**not**_** a normal ningen… ya have a **_**voice**_** inside your head."**

_"__That's not completely true, you know: never heard of 'multiple personality disorder', _raco-chan_?"_ taunted the red-haired.

**"****Oh, c'mon, ya know what I mean. And****—WAIT A SEC! Just what was that **_**'raco-chan'**_**, hun?!"** almost shouted indignantly Shukaku.

Before Gaara could say anything more, he noticed Iruka addressing to him and saying he had to go see his 'boss' (whoever that was, like he cared) and that he could spend his time playing in the room reserved for the kids near the entrance hall. The boy simply nodded, thinking that there weren't many things for him to do in the office anyway: he would give the room a chance… maybe he could find some books or something to draw… anything was better than staying there, twirling his thumbs while he waited.

-x-

Iruka, Matsuri (who seemed to follow the man everywhere… looking intently, it was possible that the girl might have a thing for her superior, but that was only a speculation) and Gaara exited the man's office and, turning left, they headed for the playroom.

As soon as Gaara was about to cross the threshold, he felt Shukaku starting to act strangely in his mind… it was as if the tanuki-like creature inside him had suddenly become restless - the boy could almost see the demons' sandy tail wiggling impatiently and it was making Gaara himself impatient and unable to stand still, his right hand had started to twitch… not willing to dwindle in the middle of the door, the red-haired seven year-old entered the three-glass-walled room (almost not even hearing Iruka telling him that he would be back soon) and spotted immediately a nice place to sit: a yellow cushion by the low table that stood in the center.

When Gaara sat down, he glanced up from the pile of tale books and color books only to land his green eyes on a blond boy sitting across from him; the other seemed to be sleeping, his arms folded on the table, his breathing a light sound and an open book in front of him.

As the red-haired kid continued to stare at the small boy before him, he heard Shukaku doing strange sounds in the back of his mind: a mix of growls, purring and hissing and in-between those, the tanuki spoke aloud.

**"****Fate has a funny way of dealing with people… after so many years, we meet again…"**


	5. Temporary Home

_**5/7/2010**_

_**EDIT! No big changes here, just some added/differently phrased things… but this chapter is mostly conversation, so there really was nothing much to add. :)**_

_**Ja ne!**_

* * *

_Hello! :D_

_This chapter is not very different from the first version of the story, because I thought that the conversation that's going to happen was good as it was..._

_Here the atmosphere is actually lighter: no angst :D_

_Oh, something I'd like to know: do you think the songs fit with the chapters?_

_I'll cut it out, now... Read&Review!_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88 XD_

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_**Embraced in the pro**__**mise of you  
Is rest for the weary soul  
Releasing all that is mine  
I reach for You**_

**- Rest  
by Skillet -**

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_"__Say, Gaara, d'you know what was the first thing I thought when we met the first time?"_

_"__How should I know…? I don't read minds."_

_"__I thought: 'Who is this guy?'… I couldn't think of anything else!"_

_"__Tz… how stupid can you be…?"_

_"__Hey! No need to say that…! I bet I shocked you too that time!"_

"_Not really… not the first time, anyhow."_

_"… __Say… do you think, if we met again in another life, it'd be the same thing as that time…?"_

_"… __Maybe…"_

* * *

**(CHAPTER 5)**

Iruka and Matsuri had left Gaara in the playroom and were quickly making their way to the chief's office. The brown-haired man was more than a little pissed at his boss, but of course he tried not to let the fact show at the onlookers - he was fundamentally a kind man, after all - even when people did something like what the old geezer had done (and Iruka _still_ could not believe it, yet he had the red-haired kid that had spent the night over at his house, to prove how much of an idiot his boss was) would Umino-san let his irritation control him… okay, not true… he could get annoyed very quickly and usually he would turn into a twitching mess if he tried to hide his sour mood; also he kind of possessed a sharp tongue… _but_, if he was at work, he tried to conceal it all as best he could – usually thinking of something that could take his mind off the irritating subject or reciting a mantra or things like those.

_"__Keep your cool, Iruka. Do it for Gaara-kun's sake."_ he said to himself, using the sentence as some kind of mantra. It would have been bad for his image if he lost his usual smile, not to mention that Matsuri was still at his side and he couldn't afford to let a frustrated hiss escape his mouth. _"Maybe later…"_

"Umino-san…?" asked Matsuri in that moment, while twirling a lock of dark hair on her fingers in a somewhat nervous or embarrassed gesture.

"Yes, Matsuri-san, what is it?" Iruka was glad to have something to distract him from his previous thoughts.

"Ehm, I was wondering… do you know why Morishima-san wants to see you so eagerly…?"

Ok, so maybe Iruka was _not_ as lucky as he'd thought because just hearing his boss' name had done wonders in matters of destroying his build facade of calm and he had to literally keep himself from gritting his teeth… of course, Matsuri had not meant to upset him, he knew that perfectly well; still, her question made the man recall the 'discussion' he had had with Morishima-san. What angered Iruka more was that it'd been his boss _in person_ to assign him Iseki and Gaara's case, saying that he trusted the brown-haired man to do all that had to be done to be certain of the boy's safety… then why the hell had he changed idea so suddenly?! He really couldn't understand how the old man's head worked.

May it be age getting its revenge on the old man…? That could certainly be and he was oh-so-tempted to tell him just that, but alas he could not.

"Yes," he finally told the twenty-two year-old woman, sighing. "I think I know _quite well_ what he wants to discuss with me."

"Oh, ok then." if Matsuri wanted to add something, she wisely decided against it as she noticed the faint twitch of her sempai's left eye.

* * *

Kakashi was having a hard time keeping his cool – idiots were not his favourite type of people; _old_ idiots even less so. Especially if he didn't know weather they acted as though they were idiots, or weather they **really** were idiots…

The man in front of him was proving to be rather good at avoiding the matter at hand: he kept changing subject in hopes to distract the younger man (but unfortunately for him, there were few things that could distract Kakashi when he was serious… one being a certain collection of not-so-innocent novels, but that was beside the point); that, or he did it to buy himself time. What for, Kakashi didn't know but he swore that if this excuse for a boss didn't stop it soon, he was going to make him fly out the window - in which case, the man could consider himself lucky that his office was on the first floor and the window a mere twenty-five inches from the ground.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but are you _sure_ you're the one in charge here?" said Kakashi, not at all sorry and with sarcasm heavy in is his tone.

Morishima Somi - the 'excuse for a boss' - stopped whatever he was saying at the witty remark and stared wide eyed at the silver-haired young man standing across from him; he resembles so much a deer caught in the headlights that Kakashi found it difficult to keep a straight face, thankfully he was an excellent master in schooling his features. After a few moments Morishima came to himself and narrowed his aged brown eyes at Kakashi's audacity.

"Is this the way you talk to elders? Where's education gone…?" asked the old man, the last part more to himself than to Kakashi.

"Oh no, don't think like that." started Kakashi, smile on his face and visible eye curved upwards. "I am, in fact, a very polite person: I talk like this only when I'm in front of people I don't really like, no matter what their age is… I'm not someone to discriminate!" he finished, smile still in place.

Luckily for the young man (or maybe for the old man), exactly when Morishima was about to retort, someone knocked on the wooden door.

"Come in." said the white-haired man while sending daggers at an absolutely calm Kakashi.

The door opened to reveal a young woman around Kakashi's age, with medium length black hair and brown eyes, wearing a bright colored dress decorated with flowers that fitted her nicely. Standing a few feet behind her, the silver-haired officer noticed a tall brown-haired, brown-eyed man with a scar across the dark complexion of his face; he was dressed in black pants and a light green long sleeved shirt.

"Morishima-san, I brought Umino-san as you asked me to." said the girl bowing a little.

"Very good, Hide-san, you may go now."

"Yes Morishima-san. Umino-san, I'll take care of the others files…" bowing for the second time, Matsuri headed out of the door, leaving the three men alone in the office.

After a minute of silence, Morishima deemed it appropriate to make introductions.

"Well, first thing first, let me introduce you to one another. Iruka-san, this is Hatake Kakashi, an officer. Hatake-san, this is Umino Iruka, he works here as a social assistant." He waited for the two men to shake hands and to focus on him again.

"Now, Iruka-san, I believe you already imagine why you're here, don't you?" asked Morishima.

"Yes, I have a _fairly_ precise idea. It is because of Iseki Yashamaru's death, isn't it?" said Iruka.

"Yes, that's right. For one, I have to apologize: I shouldn't have taken the case from you when you told me the man had threatened his nephew's life…" said the old boss.

_"__Man… this old guy __really __**is**__ an idiot. How is it possible for him to _still_ be the chief here?! I'm worried: how the hell can I trust someone like __**him**__ to send Naruto somewhere safe…?! Ugh…"_ thought Kakashi unbelievingly. The man standing next to him stayed silent, though the left eye was spasming a little. _"No wonder… he must have a good grip on himself to not try to strangle his boss…"_

"For second, Iruka-san," continued Morishima. "you'll have to collaborate with the police, who are currently looking for Iseki's nephew—"

"Is this the reason why Hatake-san is here? Is he one of those looking for Gaara-kun…?" interrupted the social assistant.

"Uh… no, I'm not in charge of looking for anybody. I'm here for… a different reason." answered Kakashi.

"Oh?"

"We'll talk about that in a minute, Iruka; first I need to know if you'll do as I asked." continued the white-haired man.

"Oh, there's no need for that. In fact when Matsuri-san came to look for me, I was about to come here anyway…" replied Iruka. "You see, we can call the police and tell them to stop looking for Gaara-kun…"

"And why, prey tell?" inquired Morishima, raising an eyebrow.

"Because yesterday evening I found him passed out on my doorstep. He was wounded and had a high fever. I'm quite sure he escaped from his uncle's house after some sort of fight – I haven't asked for the details yet - and he managed to reach my house before fainting." explained the social worker. "I discovered who he was only this morning watching the TV news, though…"

"That's pretty messed up…" mumbled the silver-haired officer, whistling low.

"Yeah, it is." said Iruka glancing briefly at the man beside him.

"Well, that's good to hear in a way, I guess." replied the old boss. "Now we'll have to find a place for the kid to stay—"

"Ehm, about that, sir…" Iruka interrupted the other again. "I was thinking that Gaara-kun could stay at my place, if you don't mind. I have more than enough room for him, and I think he likes me – sort of." offered the young man.

"Well, if you say so, Iruka-san… the kid will stay with you."

"Arigato, Morishima-san." Iruka bowed a bit.

"Well then, Hatake-san, please tell us the reason why you're here…" said Morishima turning to look at the silver-haired man.

_"__I swear, if he says 'well' again I'll throw a chair at him!" _thought said man. "You see, I've been assigned to a case of multiple murder… I don't think you know it yet, but Namikaze Minato's family has been killed yesterday and the only survivor is his older son…"

"_What?!_ Namikaze-san dead…?!" exclaimed Morishima shocked.

"… Yes…" said Kakashi, his eye now a bit dull at the memory of the man's dead body.

"Pardon me, but who is Namikaze Minato? I think I've heard that name, somewhere…" asked Iruka, curious.

"He was a police officer; one of the best… he was my superior and friend…" explained the silver-haired man.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" whispered Iruka.

As the head of 'Konoha Child Care', Morishima knew personally quite a few of the officers operating in town so, like he knew of Kakashi since the beginning of the man's career, he had known pretty well Minato too. The blond man had always been deemed to be a great and hard working officer; for the most part of his career, Namikaze had been an important member of a highly specialized squad of the Konoha Cops: the ANBU.

He had been the head of this special group of officers (both men and women) – a heavily trained, merciless squad composed by the elite, the _very best_ – who where nothing but near perfection in taijutsu, shooting with all kinds of guns or rifles and fighting skills using every type of blades from katanas to knives – absolute trust, loyalty and presence of mind and even a little bit of paranoia were required, for mistakes could very well mean death. This unique section of the police had been created especially to oppose the local yakuza, their followers and every other dangerous criminal organization.

Of course, each of those who were part of this squad had a lot of enemies that wanted nothing more than make the cops pay; to avenge their leader, a relative or a companion being captured or killed. Unfortunately, some of those criminals succeeded and sometimes great men and women didn't live to see another day.

"Uhm, Hatake-san… you were saying something about Namikaze's child, weren't you?" said Morishima, finally interrupting the silence that had descended on the office.

"Yes, I was. As I said, the only one who survived is Naruto, Minato-san's son. I came here to ask if you could find a safe place for him to stay at for as long as it'll take me to try and convince my superior to assign me a desk-job, or something less dangerous than my actual one…" said Kakashi.

"What do you mean by that?" asked the old man.

"You see, I am the one meant to take care of Naruto – it was his parents' wish, if something ever were to happen to them - the only problem is that, at the moment, I can't take the kid in due because I'm an on-field officer." explained the silver-haired man.

"I understand. Well… let me think…" Morishima paused a moment before turning to Iruka. "Iruka-san, do you have room for another child?"

"Uuh… I-well, yes… but, it depends… how old is the boy?" said the brown-haired man, looking at Kakashi.

"He's seven years old." replied the other.

_"__Same as Gaara-kun… but I'm not so sure about this… that boy doesn't seem to be all that open, I wonder how he would react…"_ thought Iruka scratching his chin lightly.

"Iruka-san? What do you say?" asked Morishima.

He sighed imperceptibly, then answered. "Oh, I suppose it's ok…"

"Perfect, it is decided then. You both can go now." with that, the old man dismissed the younger ones.

"Goodbye." said both Kakashi and Iruka, bowing lightly and heading out the door to the playroom together.

* * *

_"__Shukaku! You stupid tanuki! Answer me…! C'mon, what did you mean with 'We meet again'?!"_ insisted Gaara, he was being strangely whiny. The red-haired had continued asking the same question – or variations of it - for the past fifteen minutes, trying to gauge some explanation on his reaction out of the demon… of course, the raccoon-like creature residing in a recess of his mind had pointedly refused to acknowledge the voice of his host.

_**"**__**Honestly, I never thought the kiddo could be so damn annoyin'… and damned that **_**someone**_** who engraved into him such a useless use of determination!"**_ thought Shukaku, rubbing his temples with the tips of his paws, his ears were pointed back to show his obvious irritation.

"Tch. Fine. Ignore me, if you like; I'll add that to the list of things to make you pay for." grumbled Gaara, his voice low and his arms folded across his tiny chest. Shukaku was mostly on okay guy, but his sense of humor or fun sometimes coincided with 'morbid' or 'painful-looking' and that resulted in pretty graphic, gruesome visions disrupting the few and rare dreams or his meditation sessions – which lead to the opposite effect of calm him: it gave him nightmares. And the demon would _laugh_.

_**"**__**Oh, thank Kami… my poor ears…"**_ said the raccoon to himself, relaxing and sighing in relief.

Deciding to leave Shukaku to his own devices, for the moment, Gaara turned to the one person who had caused the strange reaction in the animal-like presence that 'infested' his head in the first place.

The blond boy was, amazingly enough, still sleeping so Gaara could take his time to look at him. The hair was a shade of yellow quite particular, it was almost a gold-like color and some strands had these barely-noticeable reddish orange highlights: it was a shade Gaara had never seen before - it was… intriguing. As for the blonds' clothing, he was wearing a navy blue long-sleeved sweater with something like a white swirl on the front (Gaara couldn't be sure, thought, seeing as the table hid the lower part of the other's body) and a pair of plain black pants. The red-haired also noticed the fairly dark complexion of the other kid: so different from his own pale white one.

Gaara continued to gaze at the boy, tilting his head as Naruto started to whimper and say incoherent words in his slumber.

"Uuhn… no-! Tou-san… -leave them alone…! Ugh… Kyuu-bi…?"

"Hun?? Is he having a nightmare…?" the red-haired boy asked to no one in particular.

_**"**__**Ah… so I was right, after all. Is he like he was back then? Does he know yet…? Seems he still got no problems sleepin'."**_ thought Shukaku.

In that instant, Naruto, with a sharp intake of breath, woke up. His eyes instantly scanned the room he was in and as soon as he remembered where he was and why he was there, he relaxed a bit while placing a hand on the fabric of his sweater, just above the heart, and breathed deeply a couple of times to calm his heartbeat. A movement in Naruto's line of vision caught his attention and he looked up to see a boy around his age, sitting across from him. The blonds' eyes took in the shock of blood red hair (that made Naruto flinch a bit as his dream came back at him), the pale skin, the tiny and quite skinny body dressed in a dark brown sweater… what made Naruto's gaze linger on the boy before him, though, were his eyes - they were a strange mix of aquamarine, light green and something grey-like… he had never seen something of that kind in his (however short) life.

At the same time, Gaara's mind had screeched to a halt. The moment the blonds' eyes were on him, he had felt himself freeze in place as a shockwave had passed through his body. There was something in those blue eyes that had immediately captured him… it may have been their color (a blue so deep you would surely lose yourself, if you were reckless) or the pained, sad and almost hunted look Gaara saw reflected in them – a look he knew well.

The two boys kept looking at each other for a long time, without saying a word; each lost in his own thoughts. Three words resounding in both their minds.

_"__Who is he…?"_

Meanwhile, Shukaku was laughing quite soundly in Gaara's head at the expressions on the kids faces. Too bad, the red-headed boy was too busy to listen to him for the time being.


	6. Strange Conversations

_**5/11/2010**_

_**EDIT! I called Kakashi 'Ero-jii' LOL Reminds me so much of Ero-sannin…! XD I guess it's because they're both perverts… here I added a lil' bit more of Kaakshi's background story without going into too deep details (because I still haven't decided if I want to insert Obito-kun in the story as an 'active' character or not). Other than that, just small, minor changes. Oh, I hope the 'baby talk' is ok...^^**_

_**Ja ne,  
Temari 88**_

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_Hello! :D_

_Here for you the sixth chapter! From now on, they're new :P meaning freshly written and not part of the previous version of the story..._

_From now on, I'm afraid the updates will be farther from one another: I tend to be a slow writer ù.ù BUT I'll try to do my best and don't keep you waiting too long! __Promise! :D_

_Anyway__, Read&Review! XD_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88_

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_**They say stay inside the lines  
We've drawn and you'll be just fine  
Don't take chances with your life  
C'mon**_

_**But  
They don't want this  
They don't feel this  
But  
This was never theirs at all**_

**- Live Like We're Alive  
by Nevertheless -**

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_"__So, you're the infamous Sabaku no Gaara…"_

_"……"_

_"__Oi! Answer me, will ya?!"_

_"……"_

_"__Are you Sabaku no Gaara or not?!"_

_"…__That's none of your business… but yes."_

_"__Who d'you think you are?!"_

_"__I told you, didn't I?"_

_"……__That's NOT what I meant!"_

_"__Why should I care about what you mean or don't mean to say…?"_

_"__Why __you__!!"_

* * *

**(CHAPTER 6)**

Once outside Morishima's office, Iruka and Kakashi started off towards the playroom were both had coincidently left their charges to wait for them. They were walking in silence, neither really paying attention to their surroundings or to the people passing them by because too lost in their own thoughts; the past twelve hours had certainly marked quite the change in both the men's lives and they were trying to warp their minds around it.

Iruka, a few feet ahead of the other man, was already worrying over Gaara's reaction at the news he'll receive shortly: he was sure the child won't mind living with him, but the fact that another boy will be joining them left the social assistant in a pitch as to how Gaara would respond; the man was also wondering what that Naru-something kid would be like… the red-haired boy was quiet and reserved and, from the few Iruka had deduced, he didn't seem much of a peoples person.

Thinking back on the conversation with his boss, Iruka remembered what Hatake-san had said: his 'nephew' was the only survivor of his family's murder, the boy had witnessed his parents and sister been killed… most probably it had been a revenge of some kind, directed towards the kid's father, Namikaze Minato, if Iruka remembered correctly… _"__Now that I think about it… Morishima-san said something about him, didn't he…?"_ thought Iruka, keeping his pace constant but still not paying much attention to where he was going. _"He said Namikaze-san was… the head of some sort of special squad…"_

Now, Iruka could empathise with being parentless – he had been orphaned at the age of eleven, when his parents had died in a rather large-scale car crash while they were returning home from a night out (in that wreck no less than twenty-three people had lost their lives); he had been lucky that he had had grandparents to take him in at the time – but he couldn't imagine how it was to witness your precious people die in front of you…

Kakashi, on the other hand, wasn't all that preoccupied with Naruto's reaction at knowing he would live with someone other than him: the man knew his adopted nephew was always happy to get to know someone new - Naruto may come out as a tad shy at times, especially at the beginning, but he would get his confidence back to him very quickly and then, all his antics come back full force and there was nothing you could do to stop him.

It had happened with Kakashi himself once: the man had always gotten around his sensei's house a lot, ever since Kushina-san had gotten pregnant and later when she gave birth to Naruto; Kakashi had visited the family at least twice a week (often dining with them too), so he spent quite a bit of time around the baby, giving him stuffed toys and dummies as presents… they had gotten along greatly, until Kakashi stopped going over the Namikaze house for more than five mouths due to an extremely difficult case; once the man was able to get back to his visit-routine, it had taken awhile for Naruto to recognize him and get to know him again - the blond kid had hidden behind his mother's legs, in a kind of awkward way (he had been tried to hide himself with his face behind Kushina's pants, but his whole body in plain sight… it had amused the silver-haired young man a lot), for probably no more than ten minutes, before firmly planting his small feet – Naruto was only almost three at the time - in front of him, stating "I don' like you, mi'ter." with what the small boy thought an intimidating frown.

Remembering that still made Kakashi chuckle uncontrollably. He also remembered how Naruto, just a few months after that episode, had stood defiantly in front of the crib where his new sister had been, declaring that "I won' 'et you touch Saya-chan, ero-jii." because, even at that young an age, he had a pretty good memory and had remembered all the times his father had talked about his 'perverted ojii-kun' and he had decided to take upon his tiny shoulders to protect his onee-chan from those dirty, dirty hands (no one had bothered to explain to Naruto that Kakashi was _not_ into little girls, and that Saya was safe).

Kakashi, still lost in his memories, failed to notice Iruka suddenly halt but managed – just barely - to not crash into the other's back in time; with an eyebrow slightly lifted he regarded the brown-haired man, waiting for some kind of explanation.

Iruka paused a moment before answering the other's unspoken question. He had remembered out of the blue that his boss had talked about Kakashi as if he knew the young officer, yet said officer hadn't seemed to recognize the elder man: was it possible that he had forgotten about Morishima-san…? Somehow, the social assistant didn't believe Kakashi to be that kind of man (the twenty-two year-old man was sure Kakashi _could_ remember someone after having seen him or her even only one time).

So, turning around to face the slightly older man, Iruka spoke. "How long have you known Morishima-san, Hatake-san?"

"Uh? I met him today for the first time, actually." answered Kakashi, taken aback by the strange question; although it had seemed more a demand than a question born simply out of curiosity.

"Is that so…?" the question held a suspicious undertone to it. "Because, by the way Morishima-san spoke about you, it seemed he knew you… as if you were old acquaintances…"

Kakashi raised his hands, signalling he had no idea where the other was coming from for his 'accuse'. "I swear I've never seen him before, only heard things here and there. My sensei, though, knew him quite well… maybe Minato-san told him something about me…" said Kakashi, shrugging - it wouldn't be that far a possibility: after all Minato had used to unknowingly ramble on about the progresses of all his best subordinates to everyone, and Kakashi _had_ been one of his favourites, at the time.

Iruka stood there in silence, wondering about what the silver-haired man had just said: that would resolve the question… he could fairly say the other seemed trustworthy, despite the eye patch that covered one of Kakashi's eyes and that gave the older man a mysterious aura… yet, there still was something in his gut that told Iruka the man in front of him was hiding things; then again, as long as those secrets did not threaten in some way the social assistant or his soon-to-be charges, then the other man could keep his mysteries – everyone had things they kept hidden.

"Er, Umino-san?" the voice interrupted Iruka's thoughts.

"Yes?" he faced Kakashi once again, only to find him looking around with a crease between his brows.

"Would you please tell me where we are? I don't remember having passed the cafeteria on my way to Morishima-san's office…"

Iruka turned to his right, where a pair of glass doors with the label _'Bar'_ met his eyes. He looked around, cursed minutely under his breath once and stared back at Kakashi with an irritated look. "It appears we took the wrong direction…" said Iruka, stressing out every word.

The other man's half sympathetic smile didn't help ease his thinning patience; after half a second, the twenty-two year-old man was struck by a doubt and he pierced Kakashi with a sharp look. "You…!" uttered Iruka, anger rapidly raising.

"Me…??" said Kakashi, uncovered eye wide in a resemblance of innocence that had no effect on the other man. _"Aww… seems I'm losing my touch…"_ thought Kakashi, a tad disappointed by the failure but extremely amused by Iruka's surprisingly short temper (it reminded him of Naruto, somewhat).

"Yes, you! You _knew_ we had gone the wrong way…! Why the hell you didn't tell me?!" a brown eyebrow started twitching even if its owner was trying to keep calm, evidently he was failing quite miserably.

"I though this was simply another route to reach that playroom; I'm not familiar with this place, after all. Plus I thought it would have been funny…"

"Funny…? And just WHAT should be _funny_?!" Iruka asked, he was starting to get furious. _"I dare you to say you find _me_ funny…! I swear I'll beat you to a pulp!"_ not that he really thought he could take on an experienced officer – much less one who had apparently been a part of that ANBU special squad – but he had never thought a person could get on his nerves that quickly: he haad always been able to control his annoyance before.

"Your reaction, what else…?" Kakashi said in the calmest and most seraphic way one could imagine. His eye was glinting mischievously: he was enjoying himself a whole lot. _"This whole thing will definitely prove to be interesting… kuku!"_ thought the cop: Naruto will have to live with Iruka for sometime and visiting his 'oi' will surely provide him occasions such as the current one to provoke the social assistant…

Yes, because Kakashi felt he deserved – needed – some way to amuse himself.

His partner at the police station could be 'difficult' at times: everyone knew that Uchiha Itachi was not cut out for jokes, not in the least – he did not understand them most of the times, did not laugh when people told them (he didn't _laugh_, point.), did not like them and most certainly he did not tell them. Whenever Kakashi said something funny, Itachi always looked at him as if he was retarded (when he actually bothered to _listen_ to the jokes); and when Kakashi deliberately mocked him to have some sort of reaction, Itachi _told_ him he _was_ retarded.

And his kouhai, Neji-kun… well, the Hyuuga was probably even more stuck up than Itachi, that alone was pretty much a feat. It wasn't a bad-stuck up per se, mind you, he just was _so_ serious, it couldn't be healthy, and every time Kakashi cracked a joke the white-eyed young man never gave a response, _ever_… it was like he automatically shut his ears whenever he predicted Kakashi was about to say something stupid.

_"__Damn it… at least Itachi gives a response in someway…!"_ Kakashi thought, going down that train of thought and completely forgetting about the still raging Iruka standing next to him.

Life had a liking for 'pranks' of that kind and Kakashi found he could appreciate the irony: he had been similar to Itachi and Neji too, when he was younger; always serious, regarding those who joked about with disgust, considering them scum – his father had raised him teaching him the importance of obedience and rectitude, thus the young Hatake had translated those teachings into learning to control his emotions, never letting amusement or sadness show on his face. It hadn't been until later on, that Kakashi understood he was just limiting himself and that his father had not meant for his son to become an emotionless rule-obsessed teen… it had taken his father's death and the encounter with an hyperactive, obnoxious guy his age to make him see the truth.

Iruka took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. He couldn't believe he had started yelling in the middle of the corridor (which was thankfully empty); the brown-haired man had never gotten that worked up, not over things of close to no importance and not so quickly… and he certainly had never been so touchy over something an almost-stranger like Kakashi had ever done – not that anyone had ever actually made fun of him before… he was far too polite to ever inspire such a response.

Looking over to the still mentally grumbling Kakashi, Iruka was beginning to seriously second-guess his decision to temporarily take in his house the man's adoptive nephew: if the boy lived with him and Gaara-kun, the cop would feel it was only his duty to stop by Iruka's house to make sure Naruto was alright… and the thought worried the social assistant a bit more than necessary.

_"__It's no good to start worry over this now; I haven't even seen the kid… which reminds me – I should hurry back to the playroom…"_ with that in mind, Iruka turned on his heels and went down the corridor leading to the child's area; Kakashi, at last back to reality, took off after the other man.

* * *

Gaara and Naruto, completely lost to the rest of the world, had not spoken a single word in over ten minutes. If one knew the boys, they would have understood immediately that something was off there… because if Gaara not talking for a while wasn't that strange given his natural quiet behaviour, on the opposite side, _Naruto_ keeping his mouth shut for that long was pretty rare – and a tad unnerving.

Shukaku had to admit it: he was impressed. In all the time he had inhabited Gaara's mind – occupying that desert-like area especially reserved as his 'home' and it had been awhile since he had needed a gate to contain him - he had never seen two people able to just stare at one another for that long, without even blinking. Or better, it seemed he never did but actually it had just been a **long** while since the last time something like that had happened. He couldn't say he was not content by how life had been going for him and his host thus far but now, with the blond boy's appearance, their routine had just turned a lot more interesting – he couldn't wait to see what will happen…

It had been a couple hundred years, if he remembered correctly, since he had looked forward to something like this.

After what seemed an hour, Naruto came back to his senses and opened his mouth to speak, saying one of the first things that came to mind.

"U-uhm…"

_**"**__**Oh Kami… he's not changed much. When his brain is overloaded he's a complete idiot…"**_ thought Shukaku, shaking his head as he finally decided to shake his host awake. **"Oi, kiddo! Open yar mouth an' talk, before blondie falls over…"**

_"__Uuuh… w-what should I say…?"_ Gaara was not being himself and the tanuki in his head found his left paw starting to twitch faintly at that: he wanted to shake the boy so badly.

**_"_Say somethin'****!"** ordered Shukaku. The beast had never been this annoyed with his life-long designed host, not in this lifetime at least… in that moment the young red-haired child had reached the highest level of idiocy ever registered in him so far - and that was saying something because Gaara, no matter the situation, had never had problems connecting brain to face muscles.

_**"**__**Man, 't's annoyin'…! Grrr!!"**_ Shukaku's left paw had stared twitching more visibly.

Luckily for the sand master, Naruto seemed to finally emerge from his 'moment-of-royal-moron-ness' and decided to start out in a very simple, very _basic_ way: he burst out laughing over nothing (_**"Okay maybe the 'moment' 's not over… might be just phase two…" **_thought Shukaku, almost throwing his paws in the air)… and causing Gaara to tilt his head to the side, confused.

"Uhm… hi! 'M Naruto, you?" said the blond kid, smiling lightly at the boy in front of him.

Gaara said nothing in return, he just remained on his yellow cushion still staring at Naruto and hardly ever blinking. He tilted his red head a little more to the side upon seeing a shadow of pink darkening on the other boy's tanned and scarred cheeks. That change in color intrigued him: was that… a blush? Gaara couldn't remember the last time he had seen one – people simply _didn't_ blush in his presence; if anything they either ignored him or paled if they met his eyes or came in contact with him… he had to thank his Ojii-sama for the reactions.

"Your face is red." Gaara completely bypassed Naruto's question, taking the other by surprise and making the light dusting turn to a much darker shade of red.

"Y-yeah, well… and you're pale!" retorted Naruto, who promptly smacked himself mentally for the stupid-sounding sort-of-insult.

_**"**__**Ch'! This brat's still th' same… poor ol' 'Tsune, stuck inside that empty head…"**_ thought Shukaku, half disbelieving half amused.

"Who're you, 'nyway?!" Naruto was quickly loosing his patience. _"Darn! I can't stand it when people ignore me…!!"_

"Why should I tell you?" answered Gaara, crossing his arms in front of his chest and looking at the blond seven year-old with a renewed air of superiority. _"Why do I feel like I _have_ to tease this guy…? I don't even know him!"_

As he heard that particular thought, Shukaku could not contain his laughter. He fell ungraciously out of his makeshift seat and landed on his back, his sandy tail wiggling in amusement and mirth. _**"Ahahaha!! Oh my, I haven't had this fun in decades!"**_

The tanuki's reaction to his thoughts irritated Gaara who, in a bit of a snappish way, demanded to know "just why the hell are you laughing?!" to which Shukaku answered laughing some more. **"You jus' said something funny, that's all."** finally said the sand demon, once recovered from his 'attack'.

Meanwhile, Naruto had gotten angrier: how could that red-haired kid dare act superior with him! He _knew_ he was probably taking it a little too personally but it seemed as if he couldn't do otherwise, he continued to overreact – first he got stuck speechless for over ten minutes (something never before heard of, Uzumaki Naruto incapable of uttering a word for that long), then he blushed like a schoolgirl (not that he knew _exactly_ what that meant, but he had heard Kakashi-jiji say it a lot) and then he got riled up over a cold-ish slash defensive answer?? What was wrong with him…?

Taking a couple of breaths to calm down, Naruto decided to try again. "What's your name?" he said with his most blinding smile on.

Gaara eyed the blond child suspiciously: his throat had mysteriously gone dry upon seeing Naruto's bright face: that guy had some kind of 'power' and Gaara didn't like what the blond boy seemed to do to him. He was about to give the other a piece of his mind._ "There it goes…"_ he breathed in and—

"I'm Gaara."

_"__What the fu—?!"_ thought the red-haired boy, totally shocked. Inside his head, Shukaku was sniggering like the bastard he could be at times like these. _"You fucking tanuki! Why the fuck did you _do_ that?!"_ Gaara screamed internally, completely out of character.

**"Maa, maa**** Gaara… language!"**

_"__Shut the fuck up! I learned from you! And why the hell have you done that?!"_

**"Aw, come on, no need ta be like that: ya know ya wanted ta tell '****im anyway. I simply helped a little… aren't I the best friend ya could ask for?"** said Shukaku, not even attempting to keep his chuckle out of his voice. His only response was a low growl coming from his tiny host.

Naruto was just about to get on with their strange conversation, when two voices called his and the other boy's names. Both kids turned their head to see one Umino Iruka and one Hatake Kakashi waiving at each of them from the playroom's glass doors.


	7. Was it a Good Choice?

_**5/12/2010**_

_**EDIT! Well, really very minor changes here so, yeah.**_

_**Ja ne,  
Temari 88**_

* * *

_Hello! :D_

_I'm so very sorry for the awful delay ç.ç but I got held back by homework... the next five months will be quite busy for me but__ I have no intention on leaving D.B.S. unfinished! ù.ù_

_Plus, I've had - still having - fam__ily problems: one of my aunts has reached a level of idiocy never before registered in the history of idiotic people, and she's supposed to be almost 40... unbelievable!_

_Anyway, back to the story.  
Warnings...? Naah, not really, at least you don't take into account 'fights' between kids :P_

_One last thing: this chapter is dedicated to Gaara! Tomorrow's his birthday!  
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAARA-KUUUNN! XD_

_Read&Review! :D_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88_

* * *

_**Destination nowhere land  
Let us find a place where heartaches end  
It's good to hold you tight  
Just make me surrender**_

**- Don't go too fast  
by Vanilla Ninja -**

* * *

_"__What d'you think would be like, to live together?"_

_"__Why are you asking me this…?"_

_"__Simple curiosity… I'd been wondering…"_

_"__Do you want to live together?"_

_"__Just answer the damn question!"_

_"… __I have no idea, but it would probably be amusing for anyone looking on…"_

* * *

**(CHAPTER 7)**

Iruka was not entirely sure he had made a wise decision, taking Naruto-kun in: the blond seemed a strange enough child (not that Gaara-kun was all that normal himself…), it was intriguing but frustrating as well and the man was having a surprisingly _hard_ time, trying to figure him out. For the record, that was a feat because Iruka was known, at 'Konoha Child's Care Office', as one of the most accurate and fast in deciphering a character.

For example, it had been a lot easier to learn about Gaara's character and act accordingly – as much as that seemed a paradox – because it had simply taken the man half a day or something along those lines, to file away the perks of the red-haired boy's moods and his likes or dislikes: Gaara was quiet, impassive to almost everything and reserved (he spoke his mind only if he thought it was worth giving his opinion or if he felt he needed to answer, otherwise he chose to ignore the people around him…), for that reason, the child could come out as cold to others and they would not do the effort to try to know him, keeping away from him – thing that Iruka, later on, understood as being Gaara's basic wish: to be left alone.

The only strange thing about the red-headed boy was his almost insane attachment to that teddy bear of his (the day after they had met and after they had gotten home with Naruto – and Kakashi - in toe, Iruka had tried to take the stuffed animal to wash it, as it was all bloody and dirty, but the red-haired kid wouldn't let it go: he had remained in front of the washer all the time…). Then there were also those weird moments in which Gaara seemed to just stare at nothing in particular for minutes on end, lost in who-knew-what thoughts and almost no amount of talking or shaking Iruka would do could make him come back to his senses – shouting and violence might have done something, but the man refused to use such methods.

Oh, right! There were also those black circles around the kid's green eyes that struck Iruka as odd… he couldn't guess where they came from: they weren't bruises caused by beatings or fallings, that was for sure, because they wouldn't still be black; it was _not_ make up because it was unlikely that a child that age would use it and anyway it hadn't come off when Iruka had tried to. Those 'marks' were the strangest things about Gaara.

… Now that Iruka stopped to think about it, Gaara too was _far_ from normal…

Still, he was easier to read than Naruto-kun because, once you knew to leave Gaara alone when he spaces out, to not always expect an answer from him and to not touch his teddy bear without permission, you could say you had him figured out for the most part. On the contrary, Naruto continued to surprise him – and Gaara as well, although the seven year-old would never admit it - the blond child was very difficult to get a hand on, both literally (it was impossible for him to stay put for very long) and metaphorically.

Naruto had been living with Iruka and Gaara for something like a week and the man had already witnessed some of the kid's 'super powers': his blinding smile had really blinded him for a second (and, strangely enough, it had almost _burned_ in its intensity…) and it had made Gaara act slightly different than usual; his laugh was contagious, it made Iruka smile fondly simply by listening to it and the other child living inside the house would lift a corner of the mouth a tiny bit without even noticing; his blushes (those appeared only when Gaara was in the room strangely enough…) could make the brown-haired man go 'Aww'-mode.

Of all those 'powers', though, the strongest was undoubtedly Naruto's blue eyes; they were a shade of blue hardly ever seen in eyes and they held all of the boy's soul in sight but, despite that, it was not _that_ easy to decipher was they sometimes conceived… Naruto was a very open person: he had no problems stopping in front of someone and starting to talk – once he got over his moment of shyness - but if he got a weird 'vibe' from this someone or if he caught sight of a pitying look when people learned he was a newly orphan, he closed up immediately and no one would be able to see a thing, looking into those eyes.

This part of the blond boy's character could be thought to be similar to Gaara's on the outside, as they both locked pieces of their selves behind walls… yet the two children were very different also in this aspect because Gaara did so consciously and very often (thus far Iruka had seen parts of the boy's true self solely when he was around Naruto, though the man didn't understand what in the other kid could make Gaara open up in ways he normally didn't do with anyone else…), no matter who he was talking to, and his body language spoke accordingly. Naruto, otherwise, seemed to raise 'protections' without noticing and people's way to act around him was put off because, unlike the red-haired child, Naruto's body acted like nothing happened: while his blue eyes draw the curtains, he continued to laugh, joke, jump around…

That was the reason why Iruka couldn't figure Naruto out.

The boy was a walking contradiction.

* * *

"Guys! Wake up! Breakfast's ready…!" came Iruka's voice from down the hall.

Naruto groaned a bit, not wanting to get up just yet. He didn't understand why the man insisted on waking them at the ungodly hour of 7.30 am… it wasn't like he and Gaara had to go to school: Iruka and Kakashi-jiji had decided they could start Christmas vacations early, after having contacted their schools… it had been something about it being too complicated to drive them both in the morning – their elementary schools were at the opposite sides of the city and until the two adults could figure out an easier way to deal with their instruction, they were off school. Which Naruto thought was pretty cool.

While the blond boy debated in his mind whether to surrender to his growling stomach or turn around beneath the covers and fall back asleep, he heard faint noises coming from the room next to his: apparently Gaara did not need to think about the incredible loss of precious 'beauty' sleep and was getting up. Naruto didn't understand how a boy his age could wake up without complaining… he hadn't heard, in the week's period he had spend living with the red-haired kid, Gaara grumble or make any noise of annoyance at having his sleep interrupted that early… it was like he was actually _glad_ to get out of bed…

_"__What… he don't sleep…?"_ thought Naruto, before chucking loudly. _"Ahah! Yea, sure… an' I'm a ninja…!"_

Shaking his head, the blond kicked the covers off his body and reluctantly gave up the thought of a couple more hours of sleep – Iruka-jii had been adamant about their eating routine: they all ate together, so if Gaara had gotten up he had to, as well; he didn't want a repeat of Iruka's 'wake the dead-sleeper up' method (Naruto cared about his butt, thank you very much). So he flung his short legs over the side of the bed and hopped down, stretching his limbs as a yawn escaped from his mouth;his stomach reminded him of the awaiting breakfast and, without bothering to change into normal clothes just yet, he walked out the door and into the kitchen in dark green pajamas (he missed his orange one, but his Jiji had said he couldn't give it to him… he hoped Kakashi would buy him another one at least).

The blond boy was definitely not a morning person - his hyper-activeness was usually out of his system for at least half an hour – and in the morning he was used to walk around with his eyes unfocused and half closed, so he arrived to the kitchen like that and with heavy stomping feet, failing to notice the person in front of him and ending up bumping into him head first and falling backwards. "Ow~!"

"Watch where you're going, baka…"

Naruto lifted his head to glare at the one who had made him fall on his butt (because it was _not_ his own fault) only to end up staring into cold green eyes; Gaara, his arms folded, looked down at him calmly with that air of superiority that seemed to appear exclusively when Naruto was around… the blond kid noticed something, a bit belatedly: the seven year-old standing in front of him had felt like hard stone, when he had crashed into him, and that wasn't normal at all – was that kid made of rock or something?

"Well…? What are staring at? Or is it that you're still in dream-land?" asked Gaara, feigning interest while smirking lightly at the face looking up at him: it screamed _'dumb'_ up at him like an ad poster surrounded by flashing lights and it was proving to be difficult not to burst out laughing when he had a tanuki-like demon that was chuckling like there was no tomorrow inside his head. Luckily for Gaara, he had a good control over himself.

"Hey! No need ta make fun of me this early in the mornin'…!" countered Naruto, picking himself up from the floor and trying to stand his ground, giving Gaara a piece of his mind when they sttod at basically the same height. _"'T's waaaay too early for this…!"_ his mind yelled as he tried to think of something to say. "If ya want ta know what I think, then I'll tell ya I don' believe you're this awake at… 7.40!"

"That may be because I'm used to 'wake up' very early in the morning anyway… so early, in fact, you could say I stay up all night..." answered Gaara in a 'I-don't-think-it's-your-business-but-I'll-humor-you-anyway' tone that made Shukaku laugh.

**"Ahaha! He won't ever get the**** hidden meaning, knowing him… kuku."** said the demon inside the red-haired child's mind.

_"__Uh?... Knowing him? How can you say that if you've known him for a week…"_ thought the demon's host, confused by that last statement.

**"Oh, but I've known Naruto-kun, here, for **_**a lot**_** more than a week… waaay more t'n that…"** replied the tanuki, smiling at the confusion he felt intensifying.

_"__This is not the first time you say things like these… would you mind telling me—"_

"Oi! Are you even listening to me?" Naruto, a little pissed because Gaara had been staring into nothing for more than a minute, began waving his hand in front the red-haired boy's face.

"Stop it, will you." an order more than a request; Gaara lost track of his inner speech and, with a sigh, decided the blond boy was annoying him and walked past him without a second glance.

"Hey! Ya don't walk 'way while people are talkin' to ya! That's rude, ya know?"

"If I don't believe what you're saying interesting, I can do as I please. Now, I don't know about you, but I'm kind of hungry…" with that, the infinitesimally shorter boy reached the kitchen table and took a seat in front of the breakfast Iruka had prepared. Naruto followed grumbling.

**"You did it again."** came Shukaku's voice from inside Gaara's head; his voice was amused – it happened a lot, lately.

_"__Uhn? Did what…?"_ replied the child, blinking two or three times repeatedly, while eating his French toast.

**"Wow… now ya**** don't even realize it? Ha! That guy intrigues you… Ya've done more witty remarks this week than all through your entire lifetime (which is short, but still)…"**

_"__T-that's not true!"_ Gaara stuttered, barely managing not to shower Naruto – seated across from him - with the orange juice he was drinking. The other boy looked at him a tad concerned, as he began coughing. _"I just can't control myself…! They come out like they were–"_

**"Routine?"** suggested the tanuki.

_"__I was going to say 'the most normal thing in the world', but I guess that sums it up…"_

**"And…? From the way ya**** say it, it doesn't seem like ya mind it, do ya?"**

_"__… No…"_ said Gaara, almost unbelieving of himself. _"It feels like… I don't know, really, but something good… it's been a while since I last felt so at_ home_…"_

Shukaku didn't say anything more: his part was finished, for the time being. His host had started to realize that something was going on between him and the blond kid, and that was a key concept – Gaara will have to carve that feeling in his heart for future reference and he will need to keep in mind how Naruto apparently held some 'special' part of his being in his small hands (_**"Kami, now I sound like a mother-hen…"**_).

Naruto, on the other side, was left speechless for the twentieth time since he had begun to live in Iruka's house: there were various reasons, but in that moment all he could think of was how he continued to be weirded out by Gaara's habit of spacing out randomly during the day. It wasn't _so_ unusual to get distracted and stare at nothing in particular (it happened to everyone), but the sheer amount of times the red-haired boy did that was unhealthy – it **had** to be!

_"__Look at 'im!"_ thought Naruto while glancing up from his breakfast (he wasn't wolfing it down because it wasn't ramen – Iruka had refused to cook it more than twice a week and _never_ for breakfast: when Naruto first told him he wanted ramen at 7.30 in the morning, Iruka had been appalled…). _"Staring at the plate like that… is he okay? Are we sure he's not sick…? Um? What's that expression…" _the blond child couldn't look away from the pale face across from him; a pale face that was now slightly more colored, for an unknown reason.

"Gaara! Hey, you alrigh'…?" Naruto half raised from his seat to reach the other side of the table with a hand and shake his fellow seven year-old. Gaara almost fell from the chair as he felt a hand on his shoulder and, looking up from the tan fingers that were resting there, his eyes met Naruto's worried ones.

"What?" asked Shukaku's host, as if nothing had happened.

In a matter of milliseconds, the worry that had been etched inside those blue eyes, all but turned into an annoyed anger, amplified by the waves of rising heat radiating off of Naruto which took Gaara by surprise, not giving him time to speak. "_I_ should say 'What?'! What's with you, un? People worry about your well-being and you answer that way? Geesh…" Naruto, breakfast forgotten, stood up and left the kitchen to cool down.

Gaara remained where he was, blinking, while the blond kid's words sunk in. _"He was… worried about me…?"_

_**"**__**Maa… there's still a long way t' go…"**_ thought Shukaku shaking his big sandy head.

-x-

When Iruka, who had been showering while the guys ate, went back to the kitchen he found a red-haired boy with a strange look in his eyes, still seated in his chair with half his food untouched, and no one else. _"__How strange, Naruto-kun didn't eat…?"_ the man thought as he neared Gaara quietly as to not somehow scare him, taking a seat next to him. "Gaara-kun? Are you alright?"

The boy turned quickly toward Iruka - that question snapping him out of his daze - to nod faintly. The boy hesitated a minute, before speaking. "Iruka-san… were you worried about me…?"

"What…?" that was unexpected, he blinked. "Well, yes, I was… you weren't eating and were just sitting here unmoving… why do you ask?" Iruka smiled gently, trying to reassure the distraught child. The man felt quite close to Gaara because he knew the boy had difficulties bonding with others and he understood that starting a new life with new people was not easy for Gaara, after the accident with his uncle.

"Does Naruto-kun worry too?" Gaara was genuinely confused: why would Naruto worry about him? He always said mean things (well, not _really_ mean), he was cold towards him and acted superior - he couldn't help it, for some strange reason Gaara enjoyed seeing the other boy's eyes flash with annoyance and indignation. It wasn't like he hated Naruto, quite the opposite in fact - he liked to irritate him because he liked how the other 'shined' when he pushed his buttons – but his own behavior was exactly why the seven year-old red-haired kid couldn't understand the other's worry: Gaara treated him fairly bad so he had been surprised by the question Naruto had posed him.

"I believe so, yes." answered Iruka, eyeing the child next to him as he frowned, thinking over something. "… Naruto-kun seems real fast at making friends and he cares for you, Gaara, I can tell; you're his friend, so he notices when there is something that might be troubling you…"

"… Okay… then I guess I'll go tell him I'm fine…" with that, Gaara hopped down from the chair and headed upstairs.

Iruka let his eyes linger on the red-haired boy's back a minute longer before getting up himself to clear the dining table of the uneaten breakfast. _"I still don't know if I made the right decision…"_


	8. Friendship

_**5/14/2010**_

_**Edit!  
Biggest change…? Kakashi think Sasuke has a crush on him! LOL Yeah, well, this chapter was actually one of the ones I liked better so nothing big added or changed here… the next chapter would probably be quite different, though, because I plan on filling it up with plot-wise things instead of just that phone call :)**_

_**Ja ne,  
Temari 88**_

* * *

_Hello! :D_

_As promised, I managed to finish the chapter in time__! (even a couple of days in advance :P)_

_I caught the flu so it's two days I'm home but even with a fever, I was determined to update this week and here I am! XD_

_This chapter is longer then I intended to make it__… the fact is that a friend of mine wanted me to write Gaara and Naruto's conversation but I couldn't find a place to put it, also I hadn't really thought about writing it at all XP For this reason the chapter kinda stretched until I found the right place for the conversation._

_Okay, that's enough rambling. -__ My head is killing me… -_

_Read&Review! :D_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88_

* * *

_**If you fall, stumble down,  
I'll pick you up off the ground;  
i**__**f you lose faith in you,  
I'll give you strength to pull through;  
tell me you won't give up,  
'cause I'll be waiting if you fall.  
You know I'll be there for you.**_

**- Save you  
by Simple Plan -**

* * *

_"__… __Are you sure you two will get along well?"_

_"__You think I'll end up killing him?"_

_"__No…! The fact is, the two of you are __**so**__ different…"_

_"__I know. But maybe this is exactly why we'll 'get along'."_

"_If you say so…"_

_"__I __**know**__ so: he's been the first to call me friend… you don't have to worry."_

* * *

**(CHAPTER 8)**

The day at the police station had started out as usual. The building was bristling with activity – when was it not? - because, as the saying goes, 'crime never goes on vacation'… Kakashi would say he felt sorry for all those bad guys, never taking a break from plotting and causing havoc, but really, he would not mean it in the slightest giving the fact that with criminals always on the move, they could never rest either.

The sky that day was a light gray with big white clouds hanging low above the buildings and it brought with it the promise of snow - nothing strange about it as winter had already arrived and planted its roots in Konoha - no one was complaining much though, because Christmas vacation had started for most workers and the streets weren't too crowded with cars. What was more, the city was particularly beautiful in this period of the year, lightly sprayed with snow: the perfect postal card picture, one would say.

From where he was seated, Kakashi looked out of the window just in time to see the first fluffy whiteness beginning to fall_. "Great… now it's started snowing and I'm still stuck here… I hope the old man will hurry up…"_ he thought listlessly, letting his head fall back against the wall the bench he was resting on was pushed up to.

Just then, the silver-haired man noticed someone making their way towards him. It was a woman of about twenty-three years of age, with short jet black hair, dark eyes behind a pair of squared glasses and bright red lips; her curvy body was squeezed into a tight-fitting light pink blouse and – if possible - an even tighter black skirt that reached her knees. The woman's high heels clicked on the floor like the hands of a clock in completely silent room – the pheromones emitting from her screamed 'sado-masochism' from a mile away.

Kakashi watched her approaching, knowing full well she was coming to talk to him. His uncovered eye seized her up and, not for the first time, he found himself thinking that the woman seemed all _but_ the sweet and innocent type… rather, with the way she carried herself she had had Kakashi labelling her as 'dominatrix' at first sight. The man was most positive about his assumptions, as he was hardly ever wrong when anything sexual came into the picture: years spent reading the _'Icha Icha'_ series and listening to the author of said collection, would most likely transform anyone with hormones into a pervert – whether it was your nature or not. Of course, the twenty-four year-old man had been an easy job - he had never, in his whole life, been a _closet _pervert, on the contrary and some of the ideas used for the _'Icha Icha'_ books had actually been Kakashi's, so go figure.

"Hatake-san…" said the woman, halting a few steps from said man. Her name was Takama Sachiko; she basically was the secretary of the head of the police station yet she looked more like Britney Spears in Womanizer's music video… Kakashi tried to imagine Sachiko-san jumping on a copying machine and print a copy of her ass… he regretted the loss of his dear mask as he forced his face to remain impassive – the cloth covering half of his face would have allowed him to at least smirk…

"Yes, Takama-san, what can I do for you?" replied Kakashi, looking up at the woman after having collected enough control to prevent himself from laughing in her face. He caught her seizing him up in a way that did _not_ exactly correspond to the way he did with her a few minutes prior; the cop felt a chuckle rise up in his throat as he decided he _knew_ what was passing inside Sachiko's mind but, as much as that might have been tempting, he resisted to make any comment.

"… Sarutobi-sama has requested that you go to his office; he would like to hear you out about your current case…"

"Ah, yes, I was waiting for precisely this. Thank you for informing me, Takama-san; I'll go to the old man's office right away." said Kakashi smiling at the woman before him; he then stood up and made lazily his way in the destined direction. After a couple steps, he heard the sound of Sachiko's heels against the marble flooring; he paid it no mind until they reached the end of the corridor, where Kakashi stopped and faced the secretary.

"Can you tell to Sarutobi-san that I'll be there in a few minutes, please? I need to speak with someone before."

"Oh. Of course, Hatake-san, as you wish." the man could see the disappointment clearly, even if she tried to hide it behind a smile far too sweet for his tastes.

"Arigato, Sachiko-san." Kakashi added turning right and making his way down the corridor that led to the rather large gym used by everyone inside the department_. "He should be there… I swear if he went home before me, I'll beat him up next time…!"_ thought the silver-haired man, who had already forgotten the woman still frozen on her spot, staring after him (staring at his backside, to be precise) with a hungry look.

_"__Oh my, I hope she won't get any strange idea just 'cause I called her 'Sachiko'… oh, well, if she did then I'm sorry for her – not really – but she's not my type."_

* * *

They had been sparring for some time now and they were both sweating and panting; he, though only a few years older, was far more experienced than his opponent, therefore, was in better shape and was fairing well. Besides, he knew every sequence of attacks that might get directed at him because, unlike his sparring partner, he had already seen the other fighting a good number of times.

There was no chance for Neji to defeat Itachi.

Few people could say they were able to stand a chance against Uchiha Itachi, after all.

They both knew it and they both paid it no mind. Itachi did not fight against the other officers often; to tell the truth, it was actually the other way round: no one ever wanted to spar with the raven-haired man because his fighting style drove most people crazy, or frustrated. The point was that the man's moves were _minimal_ - he was by no means lazy, he simply didn't like wasting energy when it was not needed so if, for example, a punch was directed at his face, Itachi's only reaction was to turn his face of the few inches necessaries to avoid being hit.

Neji, unlike his current fighting partner, chose on his own that he didn't like sparring with those that ranked in his same position – they were all too weak for him to represent a challenge. For this very reason, most of his 'pals' disliked him and the white-eyed man was rarely seen inside the gym anyway; whenever he was, he usually fought against the Uchiha or against his other sempai. Of the two, the Hyuuga preferred Itachi for, basically, one reason: the older man kept for the most part quiet - except for one or two advices about his style - and was just as serious as he himself was. Kakashi, on the other hand, could get annoying – _really annoying _- when they sparred and he managed to bust Neji's concentration half the times (a flaw the younger of them couldn't stand) thanks to stupid comments about his long black hair making him look like a girl.

In a moment of pause from the sparring, Itachi and Neji noticed Kakashi approaching them. "Yo guys. You two having fun?" greeted the silver-haired man waving a hand in a mock salute and halting four or five feet away from the others.

"Hatake-sempai, do you need something?" asked Neji, picking up a towel from a nearby bench and drying his pale face of the sweat.

"Neji-kun…" said Kakashi shaking his head in faked disappointment. "Why the change? You know I don't like to be called 'Hatake-sempai': it makes me feel old…!"

"Cut it out, Kakashi. Why are you here?" came Itachi's even voice, completely unaffected by the fight just ended. If he had to be honest, the Uchiha might have had an idea to explain Kakashi's presence there but he kept silent, waiting for an answer.

"Oh right, _you're_ the one person I was looking for, Itachi." replied the other. "I _know_ you have your own sense of humor and your own idea of fun," his visible gray eye narrowed a little as he paused. "and I also _know_ just how twisted they can get… but to do that!"

"Do what, Hatake-kun?"

"I'm not buying it, Itachi; you **perfectly** know what I'm talking about." Itachi's only reaction was the blinking of his eyes. Neji found that expression of fake innocence quite impressive, if not a bit scary. Kakashi continued his tirade. "You've been assigned to my same case; you know damn well where Naruto is; you've been given Umino-san's number… so why, for God's sake, did you tell Sasuke to call _me_? He's spent the past three and half days constantly asking me where Naruto is: why didn't you tell him yourself? He's _your_ little brother."

"That may be true, but Naruto-kun is your adopted nephew; it is _your_ duty to make sure his friends know he's safe." Itachi answered calmly. He was having fun.

"But I _did_ tell Sasuke where Naruto is AND I gave him Umino-san's phone number! I've gone as far as giving him the address! Still, he continues to call me…!" ranted Kakashi, quite out of character. "The only explanation is that he's got a crush on me – as terrifying as that's to believe – because, honestly, I never thought _Sasuke_ could be _this_ annoying…!" grumbled Kakashi, placing a hand to his temple (the memory alone was enough to give him a headache).

As the gray-eyed man said this, something weird happened to Itachi's face: a hit of a grin appeared, making the owner of those pale lips seem even more scary than before. Kakashi, thankfully, missed the expression – that had lasted three seconds square - but Neji did not and a cold shiver run down his spine: he was unused to that part of the Uchiha's character; the white-eyed man had never actually _seen_ Itachi crack a joke before (he was sure no one had ever even _dreamed_ to _think_ that the raven-haired cop _could_). Of course, Itachi was not cracking a joke but the twenty year-old lad was sure the grin had came out because of some kind of hidden 'prank' only the Uchiha could understand.

"My… I never knew my dear outouto might have had a _thing_ for you, Kakashi-kun…" said Itachi in a sort of mock slash serious worried tone and wearing a faraway look on his face. Now Neji was fairly sure: his sempai found the whole situation absolutely hilarious – even if his face was as stone-like as ever, his eyes did let something gleam through.

"Tz'! Glad you find this funny BUT could you tell your brother to stop bothering me..? He has everything he could ask for, if he wants to see or talk to Naruto for fuck's sake…!"

"Kakashi-kun. Watch your language, especially when you put my outouto in that same sentence." warned Itachi, a sudden dark aura surrounding him. Neji, surprised, took a step back.

"Yeah, yeah…" Kakashi quickly dismissed the other's threats waving a hand. "Well… I'll be off: the old man wants to see me and I've already lost too much time. I want to go home, damn it." grumbled the silver-haired man, before turning around and exiting the gym.

* * *

Sarutobi Hiruzen, head of Konoha's police department, was pleasantly occupied with his nose buried into the book in his hand. He had been reading for ten minutes, to kill the time Kakashi would take to finish whatever he had to do so urgently. The book he was holding so close to his face was a rather small one – the cover was roughly the same size of a DVD case - but it ranked into one of the genres the man preferred: every minute of free time he got, he would spend it reading that book; Sarutobi kept it hidden away safely, so that no one would ever find it and (God forbid!) steal it. He had gone as far as to have a special double-bottom drawer for the book to be kept.

It wasn't always the same volume: the one the man had been reading for a couple of days now was part of a collection of many others. Sarutobi loved those books, in fact he usually finished each one of them in less than a week (thus far the fewer it had taken him to finish one had been two days and a half) and had to wait one more month to have the following one… he had tried – many, many times - to read slower, to savour the delicacy, the plot, but he had failed miserably: he just got so involved in the story, that he inevitably couldn't stop reading until he reached the last page.

It was a shame, really. Thankfully, he knew the author and was usually the very first to get a copy (with a special dedication) when a new volume was published. Connections did that all right.

Sarutobi was just getting to the best part, when someone knocked on his door and, from the other side, Sachiko's voice was heard. "Sarutobi-sama, Hatake-san's here."

Without waiting for a response, the door burst open to reveal Kakashi. "Hey there, old man!" he said, closing the door behind him with a foot and then glancing Sarutobi's way; as soon as he did that, his uncovered eye went wide. "Kami-sama! That's… that's… the latest _'Icha Icha'_ volume! How did you get it? Where?" he exclaimed, going up to the other's desk in a flash.

"Stand back Kakashi. Don't come any closer or else…" said the elder in his commanding tone and an extended hand to keep the other man away.

"… Just a glimpse, _please_…" pleaded Kakashi (he had no shame when those books came into the picture), eyeing the red volume held safely in his boss' hands with the hunger of a starved man. When you say 'addicted'…

"No." Sarutobi was not at all affected by the pitiful creature in front of him – he wasn't the chief there for nothing. "Don't take another step, young man, or you'll stay over for the night shift." the man allowed a small smirk to stretch his thin lips as Kakashi recomposed himself immediately: he knew his subordinates perfectly and, really, this one was very easy to 'manipulate' when it came to things like these. "Kakashi, I believe you already know why you're here, don't you?" Sarutobi was now down to business (he had already put away the book under the other's gaze) and he watched the man in front of him expectantly.

"Yes, sir. I'm here because of the case Itachi and I are following… Minato-sensei, Kushina-san and Saya-chan's deaths…"

"Precisely. Now, I didn't want you on this case because of obvious reasons…" the elder sighed. "but I gave in to your requests. You've been working on the motives and dynamics for the past week and that's good, as I didn't expect the case to be solved quickly – we _are_ talking about the murder of an ex ANBU captain - but you _have_ to talk to Minato's son." said Sarutobi, eyeing Kakashi carefully and fully understanding how the 'youth' might be feeling.

"I know, sir; I simply wanted to wait some time, so it wouldn't hurt him too much talking about that night." replied the silver-haired man, looking left and seemingly studying the drawer there as if he had never before seen it.

"I understand, Kakashi… I know you care a lot for Naruto-kun – I do as well - but we need to hear his point of view on the whole thing."

"Yes, Sarutobi-sama."

"I'll give you the time to enjoy your vacations with Naruto-kun, Kakashi," a brief pause, then "but for the next time we see each other, I want a report with your nephew's version, all right?"

"Yes."

"Perfect. Now get out of here so I can continue to read this fantastic book!" said Sarutobi cheerfully, taking his volume out of its hidden place and waving Kakashi off. The younger man smiled a bit before he walked toward the door and grabbed the knob; he turned to face his boss briefly, flashing him a grin.

"You'll have to lend it, old man, or I'll take it by myself!"

Sarutobi only grumbled as Kakashi finally closed the door and left him alone with his _'Icha Icha Paradise'_ volume.

* * *

The atmosphere inside the house was a tad lighter than it had been a couple of days back. Iruka was pleasantly surprised, and the improved mood of the two boys living with him had helped his own mood to remain cheerful and happy. The man didn't know what had happened between the kids - both had refused to answer his questions, dismissing them with a 'doesn't matter, now!' but, as everything was back to normal, he didn't really mind the secret.

Iruka had taken two days off, so that Naruto and Gaara weren't left home on their own: Christmas was close and he wanted everything to be perfect (even if simple) because both kids were probably worried about the upcoming festivity… it would be the first after the – still so fresh - events that had left them without a family… but Iruka desired to take the best out of the situation. He wanted them to be as happy as possible, while they both lived under his 'wing' – it was unknown how much it will take for Naruto's adopted uncle to convince his chief to give him a different job, a less dangerous one that would permit him to take care of the boy.

There was a lot of work yet to be done: he had to buy all the ingredients for Christmas' lunch and he had yet to decide what to give to Naruto and Gaara as presents (he was a bit ashamed because of this, but who could blame him?); to top it all, Iruka had no idea if he should buy a present for the silver-haired cop or not and, if he _did_ decide to buy something for him, he still had no idea _what_ to buy… should he ask Naruto-kun? The boy would surely know the other man's tastes…

Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, Iruka stepped out of the bath where he had been enjoying the hot water; he took a towel to dry off his body and then he put on some casual clothes. Opening the bathroom's door he heard chattering coming from the living room and went in that direction.

Once there, Iruka saw Naruto curled on the couch with the phone held close to his ear with one hand, while the other one couldn't seem to be able to stay still. On the other side of the sofa, Gaara was quietly reading a book but kept sending annoyed looks towards the blond seven year-old every once in a while (he probably wanted to read in peace).

As much of a 'cute' scene as that was, Iruka had to interrupt it.

"Guys…" said the man with a smile. Both the children turned toward him and waved with different grades of enthusiasm (Naruto almost dropping the phone in his eagerness).

"Hey Iruka-jiji!" said Naruto, before glaring at the device in his hand and saying something along the lines of 'Shut it, teme, that's none of your business!' causing Iruka to sweat drop a bit.

"Hello, Iruka-san." came Gaara's quiet voice; despite the light smile he was wearing, he continued to stare at the kid next to him and a faint twitch was beginning to show at the corner of his right eye. Of course Iruka couldn't know that Gaara, although annoyed at Naruto, was far more pissed at the demon residing inside his mind.

The fact was, Shukaku had decided to play with his host and, because of this, he had started to read out loud random parts of the book Gaara had been trying to read for the past hour… and obviously, Naruto shouting on the phone did not help the other's concentration – the blond kid wasn't exactly _shouting_ but his naturally loud voice was annoying Gaara.

**"Yah yah… who ya think ya're kiddin'? Not me, tha****'s for sure."** Shakaku's deep voice broke the red-haired's concentration yet again. Gaara gave up and threw the book on the living room's table.

_"__Can't you leave me alone, Shukaku…?"_ replied the boy.

**"Hey, I felt I **_**had**_** ta say somethin': ya know damn well ya don't really mind the brat's voice… ya don't mind the brat, simple."**

_"__That may be— wait! What should that mean…? I didn't say that!"_

**"Ya**** think I'm stupid?— Okay, don' answer that. Point is, kiddo, I know ya and tha's enough."** replied the tanuki, shaking his head in fake disbelief.

_"__Oh? And why knowing me leads you to the conclusion that I like Naruto?"_ asked Gaara trying to prove the demon wrong but…

**"****A-ha! I didn't say ya**_** liked**_** 'im, I said ya didn't **_**mind**_** 'im."** a soft growl was his answer. **"'Nyway… if ya don't like the brat, then why were ya worried when he got pissed the other day?"**

_"__Uhm… well—"_

"Gaara? Oi, you there…?" Naruto's voice brought him back to reality. Green eyes focused on a tan face and he nodded in response. "Geesh, ya sure space out a lot… ya sure ya sleep enough a' night? Iruka said it's important…" sensing the red-haired's distress, Naruto took Gaara's hand and began dragging him towards the boy's bedroom and, once there, the blond boy made the other sit on the bed, draping a blanket on his shoulders. "Now, try 'n' take a nap. May help." said Naruto with an encouraging smile then, turning back, he closed the door behind him.

The room was fairly dark; if Gaara could sleep, he would have followed the Naruto's advice immediately. Instead, he sat up straighter on the mattress, crossed his legs and wound the blanket on his shoulders closer, taking a meditative position: the closest thing to slumber, for him. He closed his eyes and freed his mind of every thought (though he could still feel Shukaku's presence clearly), he slowed his breathing pattern and finally relaxed.

For some time there was a blissful silence and then, the sand demon's words came back to him. _**"Why were ya worried when he got pissed the other day?"**_ He had been about to answer, but to tell the truth he didn't know what to say.

He tried to think back, to recall the reason why he had acted differently…

-x-

_Gaara had been determined to go to Naruto and t__ell him he felt bad for what he had done (not done?) but, once outside the other's bedroom he had hesitated. What if the other was still mad at him? He couldn't seem to decide what to do, so he had remained in front of the wooden door for he didn't know how long, lost in his own thoughts._

_It had been __some time later, that Naruto had calmed down and was about to go to Gaara to apologise for the outburst but, upon opening the door, he had been greeted by a strange picture: the red-haired kid was seated on the floor across from him, with his legs pulled up and his chin resting on top of them. Gaara didn't seem like he had heard him come out - he looked like he had been asleep yet when Naruto approached him, he had opened his green eyes to stare at the blond._

_"__Gaara? What are ya doing there on the floor?" asked the blue-eyed child, both curious and concerned. The other didn't seem like he wanted to talk any time soon, so he took a seat next to Gaara and stayed there, in silence._

_"__W-why…" a tiny voice came: the red-haired boy had refused to look at the other (he didn't want to come out as a cry baby: he was _not_ a cry baby; it had been a long time since the last time he had cried); he was confused, he wanted to reassure Naruto, tell him he was okay – but he couldn't understand _why_ he wanted to do all this…_

_"__Gaara… is somethin' wrong? If it's about what happened before, ya don't hafta worry: 'm not mad at ya… I was… don't know, I guess I was just worried 'bout you…" Naruto said, scratching his head in embarrassment and smiling weakly. He too, like Gaara, didn't get the reason why he felt so strongly for the other seven year-old; he had never got so frustrated if someone had refused to tell him something or answered the way Gaara had done._

_"__Why were you… concerned…?" Gaara was trying to understand the reasons behind Naruto's actions; he wasn't used to people thinking about how he might be feeling nor was he used to people apologising to him._

_"__Oh… I… just thought somethin' was wrong or somethin'… I mean, we're livin' together so it's normal that I worry 'bout the people 'm living with and that I care 'bout… don't ya think?" Naruto had felt that Gaara was somewhat troubled and he hoped he was helping him._

_"__You… care about me…?" Gaara remembered Iruka's words. He turned to face the blond._

_"__Yeah, of course!" exclaimed Naruto, almost shocked that Gaara had asked him. "I mean, I don know ya a lot 'cause we've known each other for somethin' like a week, but that don't mean I don't consider you a friend…!"_

_"__O-okay…" Gaara was stuck speechless for some time, before he absorbed just what Naruto had said. He swallowed a couple of times, his mind blank, then his original intention for sitting on the floor came back to him and he breathed in and spoke, still a bit insecure. "Well… you-you don't have to… worry N-Naruto… I'm okay…"_

_"__Okay! See, tha's better! Wasn't too difficult, was it?" said Naruto, his blinding smile on._

_"__Yeah…" said Gaara, a small smile of his own._

-x-

Gaara could feel a bit of the warmth he had felt then still burning at the pit of his stomach and remembering Naruto's smile, made him shake his head fondly – though he would never admit it to anyone.

**"Found any a****nswers for yar oh-so-holy questions?"** Shukaku came back to interrupt his host's thoughts.

_"__I guess you could say so…"_

**"Really?**** So, what's the verdict?"**

_"__It seems I _do_ like Naruto… and that I can actually consider him a friend… I _do_ have a friend."_

**"****'S that a bad thing…?"**

_"…_ _No, it's not… not at all."_


	9. Snowy Memories and Crazy Phone Calls

_**5/27/2010**_

_**EDIT! Alright, this chapter's revising took a long time, I'll admit that, but I thought the readers (all of you) would appreciate what I wanted to do here :) In short, this was a 'filler chapter' because at the time I wrote it, I was lacking ideas and inspiration but didn't want to keep you waiting too long to read a new chapter… now, once I reached this, I'd already decided to add something to make it 'plot-wise' and the result was actually longer than I expected… not to say I don't like it! Far from it. :D**_

_**So, I highly recommend you read over this chapter because this is definitely **_**the**_** most different from the original one.**_

_**(I've noticed I'm making Shukaku sound more and more pirate-ish as I go on… LOL and please tell me if my 'child speech pattern' is ok… :P)**_

_**Ja ne,  
Temari 88**_

* * *

_Hello folks!_

_I'M IMMENSLY SORRY for this awful wait...! I don't know how to make it up for the lateness... I feel horribly, but in these passed weeks I kept getting distraced and I couldn't sit still enough to concentrate and write something long (this chapter shows this, in its shortness...); plus we've got some issues here concerning school laws and stuff which came off with an uproar of all the students... in few words, a real mess ù.ù_

_Sorry again! I hope you'll enjoy this, however short but supposed funny, chapter :D_

_Read&Review!_

* * *

_**Th**__**e silence of a winter's night  
brings memories I hold inside;  
remembering a blue moonlight  
upon the fallen snow.**_

_**Maybe I am falling down.  
Tell me, should I touch the ground?  
Maybe I won't make sound  
in the darkness all around.  
**_**  
- Amid the Falling Snow  
by Enya -**

* * *

_"… __Have you always liked snow?"_

_"__No. To tell the truth, my relationship with it is rather… complicated."_

_"__Hah, I think I understand, somehow."_

_"__Do you? How…?"_

_"__I told you, I dunno…! It's just… sometimes I can feel it – a pull at my heart, telling me something's wrong with you…"_

_"………"_

_"__Did I say something I shouldn't have?"_

_"… __No…"_

_"__Than what—"_

_"__Thank you, for worrying about me."_

_"__It's what I'm here for!"_

* * *

**(CHAPTER 9)**

Gaara was staring out the window. The house was quiet, only the faint noises of the wooden flooring creaking due to the change in temperature reached his ears; outside, Konoha was fast asleep – like he should have been, if not for his chronic insomnia – and slowly getting covered in a blanket of pure white snow… the boy had been watching, as the first flakes had started falling: he had traced the glass dividing him from the world outside with drooping eyes, his heart had clenched for a moment while taking in the frozen water fluctuating in the cold night air.

He usually wasn't one to turn suddenly pensive or distracted when certain weathers came by; his mood usually had nothing to do with what the sky looked like, yet this time the change had been almost instantaneous: the calm he had been feeling since he had secluded in his room after 'bed time' had dissolved into darker emotions – nostalgia, grief… hate – at the mere sight of the snow. Memories he kept carefully packed inside a box in a corner of his mind had burst out, flooding him, unwillingly with brief flashes of what few he remembered of his mother… blurs of echoing voices, colors, feelings from a time not too far back but belonging to a life that seemed not his, because so much had changed since then, though only a couple of years had passed.

-x-

_"__Gaara… Gaara…!" Karura had been searching for her little son for ten minutes, looking into each and every room of the house but not finding him anywhere, she was starting to worry. "Where could he—" she __stopped mid sentence as she caught a glimpse of a light blue speck of __color__ in the midst of the white just outside the sliding glass door she had been about to pass; she breathed a sigh of relief as she realized it was who she had been looking for. The woman approached silently, not wanting to make her presence known just yet, her feet barely grazing the wood planks of the porch facing the backyard; her stealth seemed to be insufficient, though, because she made it only as far as half of the way before the striking pale green eyes of her small child fixed dead on her – it was as if he had been alerted of her presence by someone… that or she _really_ sucked at crawling about if her almost-three-years-old son could catch her so easily._

_"__Ha-ha." Gaara whispered, raising from his crunched position and slowly making his way to Karura, weaving through the snow with a bit of difficulty – thankfully it had been snowing for less than twenty minutes, somewhat poorly, thus the cold blanket hiding the grass underneath was not very high. "Ha-ha… see? See?" the toddler continued to talk lowly, he had reached his mother and had raised his short arms to be picked up, all the while indicating the white over the garden with a chubby finger._

_"__Yes, Gaara__, I see." replied Karura, taking off the wool jacket she had been wearing and draping it over her son's shoulders; the woman pulled her child close, hugging him, while they both remained on the porch to watch the snow fall from the sky. "You know what it is, my angel?" asked the woman, whispering as to don't disrupt the peaceful atmosphere; Gaara shook his head, the red locks creating another sharp contrast of __color__ with the nature surrounding the two. "That's snow…" she said, smiling minutely._

_"… __S-no-w…?" the little boy tried the new word on his tongue – for some reason he found the sound funny – and after having repeated it a couple of times, he seemed confident about something, his eyebrow-less face frowning slightly. "… Snow 's coooold…!" he finally spoke his thoughts out loud, the displeased look melting into a minute beam as he continued. "__Bu' nice too!" Karura couldn't help but laugh in endearment at his son's sparkling face._

"Aww… he's soooo cute! My boy!"_ she thought. "So, you like snow then?" at Gaara's enthusiastic nod, she laughed some more before picking the child up and heading back inside closing the glass door behind them – it had started to get dark outside and the temperature had already dropped a few grades; she didn't want her precious son to catch a cold two days before his third birthday._

-x-

Gaara closed his eyes tight as the stream of the memory finally ended. That had been a day of 'first times' for him: that day had been just before the first birthday he actually remembered, he had seen snow for the first time – he had been mesmerized by the falling flakes while standing outside – it was the first memory he thought about when he found himself thinking of his mother's scent. It had also been one of the last times he had heard her laugh…

He breathed in deeply, once, twice, then he shifted position; he straightened his back against the pillow that was pushed up, opened his eyes again observing the frozen water flitter to the ground from across the room and found himself wondering. _"… If people say that rain embodies Heaven's present pain and grief, then… what does snow represent?"_ Gaara continued pondering over his question as the hours passed by sluggishly – sleep still evaded him – and as if to mock the seven year-old further, not even meditation helped him relax enough to feel sleepy.

With a drawn out sigh, the boy grabbed Kuma-chan from its spot at the foot of the bed and threw the covers off, his socked feet padding noiselessly as he exited the bedroom and turned left to head to the front of the house. Passing the room next to his, Gaara paused just outside the barely open door, frowning a bit: he thought he could hear low whimpering coming from inside, but the noise was too faint for him to be sure. "Shukaku…?" he asked not bothering to think but muttering out loud, catching the sand demon's attention. "Can you hear that?" a grunt of affirmation was his answer; Gaara bit his lip, unsure. "You think we should check on him…?"

**"****Ya****h… don't see why not."** replied Shukaku. With that, the red-haired child entered the dark room, casting his shadow over the entrance and immediately catching sight of his fellow seven year-old's back turned away from him; Naruto was undoubtedly whimpering as he shifted position, until he turned Gaara's way… the blond kid had his face scrunched up, thin lines of what could only be tears running down his cheeks and a hand stretched out to reach for something. **"Looks like he's havin' a nightmare…"** commented Shukaku. His host nodded minutely, a sad look dancing in his jade eyes as he approached the other; three steps later, he found his own hand reaching out, his cold fingers closing around Naruto's in a gesture of comfort – it seemed to work to an extent as the whimpers stilled, so Gaara decided to sit on the edge of the bed and keep the other company, after all sleep for him seemed out of the equation that night.

"You can't rest either, eh?" the words slipped out of his mouth without him realizing, his free hand going up to lightly caress the tanned face and soothe the tense lines on the other's forehead (the beast sealed inside the boy let a leer bloom over his sandy face at that). "… People like you should never experience pain or grief… you're too good hearted to suffer, Naruto." a moment's pause as he noticed the other leaning into his touch. "Always doing everything in your power to not have others worry for you… yet you've had a life worse than most… I'm glad this time you at least knew your parents from the star—" Gaara was snapped from his semi-trance as he registered what he had been saying… _"What was that?"_

_**"**__**Wow… that sure brought back memories…!"**_ thought Shukaku, blinking as he too took in Gaara's words. The demon could feel his 'bearer' (he tried to contain his laughter at the thought of a hobbit-Gaara: it was _not_ the moment for stupid jokes) fervently trying to understand why he had said those things – in theory, neither the host nor the beast should know much about Naruto… and although Shukaku had already clearly proved that to be wrong on his part(how exactly the sand raccoon knew of the boy remained a mystery), Gaara was most _positive_ he had never seen the blond kid before that day at 'Konoha Child Care Office'… so why did he say that?

**"****Tha most weird things can come out of someone's mouth." **

_"__The _hell_?"_ thought Gaara after Shukaku's 'helpful' input – there he was, trying to understand the reason behind what he had said and the stupid tanuki thought it was something to joke about_…? "This is serious, you baka! That wasn't just a mass of gibberish and you_ know _it!"_

**"****I don' know what yar talkin' about…"** lied the demon, facing away from Gaara in indignation.

_"__The hell you don't know!"_ accused the child, mentally pointing a finger at Shukaku while glaring at him. _"I mentioned his parents – I don't even know __**who**__ Naruto's parents where! Let alone what happened to them…!"_ Gaara tried to remain calm at least on the outside: he was still seated on Naruto's bed and he didn't want to wake him up. _"And what's this thing about 'this time', uh?"_

**"****Will ya calm down a bit…?"** the sand beast had stuck a finger in his ear to stifle the boy's voice, which had increased in volume. **"I don' see what you're so rile' up for, really. That could have jus' been an unconscious knowledge or somethin'… ya realized he lost his parents too or some other shit like that…" **okay, he was testing his luck with that, because he _knew_, but the demon couldn't let Gaara catch up on what had happened quite so soon thus he hoped the kid would not see through his small (huge) white lie – the seven year-old was far too smart for his comfort sometimes.

Silence was what met Shukaku's statement. Gaara was mulling over it, trying to find some other plausible explanation – because the only thing he could think of was that, _somehow_, in some other dimension or whatever, he and Naruto had already met and also that they knew each other _quite_ well… but that was just ridiculous and impossible! He might have had only seven years of 'knowledge' on his shoulders, but Gaara thought he could easily say he had experienced more in barely seven years of life than what most people would in their whole lives. _"Plus I don't really believe in reincarnation or migration of the spirit…"_

The raccoon inhabiting the boy's mind stifled an incredulous cough. _**"Damn, tha' was too close ta home…"**_ he let out an uncomfortable laugh as he scratched his neck in an obvious nervous manner; good for him Gaara was still focused on his own thoughts to pay him any attention. **"Uuh, think it's better ta leave the kiddo 'lone now."** he proposed, hoping his host would forget the episode ever happened. _**"… Not likely ta happen…"**_

"Yeah, you're right." agreed the red-haired child, slowly getting up from the bed and untangling his hand from Naruto's. He gazed at the other's now calm features and smiled a little. "You are certainly interesting, Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

Gaara had been acting strangely all morning and it bugged Naruto enormously; his friend had been moping about, mostly sitting on the couch with Kuma-chan snuggled in his lap, alternatively reading a book absently or staring into space – while the young blond had come to accept it as 'normal', the amount of the day had been well above average and it was more difficult to bring him out of it.

Naruto had not acted yet because he himself was feeling a little strange, that morning: somehow more tired than when he had gone to bed the night before; the only reason he could think about was that he had dreamed of something that had drained him of his energy… he had a hunch that the dream he was positive he had had, had been a bad one – a nightmare – because although he couldn't recall what had happened, he could still feel the weight that had settled upon his heart after he had woken up. He had tried to delve into his memories a couple of times but he had obtained had been a sharp, stinging pain cursing through his brain and… the eerie impression of a metallic door (or something of that kind) shutting in his face with a sound similar to chiming bells accompanied by a deep, growling voice echoing from some place saying 'It's too soon.'.

_"… __Wonder what that was…"_ was all Naruto could think every time he pondered on it.

His blue eyes glanced to the side, taking in the sight of Gaara still sitting next to him on the couch: his friend was trying to read, though it was obvious he wasn't putting much effort into it because he had barely turned a page or two since Naruto had sat down (when normally he would finish a chapter in a matter of minutes) and now the blond child could see the other blinking every few seconds… clear sign that Gaara was trying to keep his eyes open and not fall asleep. _"Ok, tha's it."_ declared Naruto internally before jumping down from the sofa, turning toward the red-haired boy and snatching the book from the other's grasp.

"What—?" started saying Gaara, but he didn't get to finish as Naruto threw the novel carelessly on the living room table and then grabbed a pale hand, pulling the stunned boy up and dragging him out of the room, towards the blond's bedroom; once inside (Gaara was still too shocked to resist), Naruto made the other lay down on his bed. "What the hell are you—"

"Sleep."

"I don't need to."

"The hell you don't!" Naruto found himself raising his voice – he was annoyed at the other's stubbornness: he was obviously tired, probably he had not slept at all, and he couldn't contain his irritation any longer. "You were practically zonked out there…! If you're sleepy, _sleep_ dammit!"

"… I don't know what you're talking about." came the quiet response. It was true; he _was_ feeling the draw back from the total lack of rest from the night before… even with his insomnia, he usually got two or three hours worth of sleep in his system, or at the very least that amount of time of meditation… yet he had been so caught up in his past that he had forgone everything else. Still there was no reason he should let Naruto bully him into resting; it was really none of his business. "Why should I listen to you? I can handle a night without sleep."

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say as a cold look took over Naruto's blue eyes; the boy didn't say a word for a while, only staring at Gaara with a piercing glare and the red-haired found himself thinking that those eyes somehow reminded him of snow. Before long, the blond seven year-old took a deep breath to calm down, closing his eyes briefly before opening them again and giving the other a mildly concerned look. "Listen… I got that you don't like people pushing you around, and that's not what 'm doing… I just don't like seeing you mopin' or hurtin'…" he said in a soft voice.

"I'm not hurt."

"… Oh, c'mon, you _know_ what I mean…!" Naruto sounded exasperated as he crossed his arms. Gaara was about to retort that no, he didn't understand what he meant but— "There's somethin' wrong, I feel it!"

Teal eyes widened at that, the words echoing in his mind in a voice similar yet different from Naruto's… he heard Shukaku hum in amusement but was too busy trying to shake off the weird feeling that had settled in the pit of his stomach. Finally he gave up – he didn't have the strength to fight over such a thing, especially since he _was_ tired. "… Fine, I'll sleep." He turned to the side and went to close his lids, when he felt something press against his back; without moving an inch, he spoke. "What are you doing?"

"'M gonna sleep too. Keep you company."

Gaara could hear the smile twisting Naruto's lips as he said that… as his blond friend's breathing evened out, the pale boy let his own lips quirk slightly upward. _"Thank you."_

* * *

_*__Driin… driin… driin… driin…*_

The phone started ringing inside Iruka's house. The sound reverberating through the building for a few moments before the receiver was picked up and the call answered by the owner of the house, dressed in a dark green apron covering a lighter green shirt with sleeves rolled up to the elbows and black sweat pants. "Moshi moshi?"

["Konbawa."] came the voice from the other side; the person talking sounded a tad aggravated but other than that it was perfectly flat. ["Is Naruto there?"]

"Oh, Sasuke-kun, it's you…" replied Iruka, recognizing the kid that had been calling daily in the past week or so. "He's outside playing in the snow; you want me to call him in?"

["Tz'... typical of that dobe..."] whispered Sasuke under his breath, shaking his head, before answering the question with the same plain tone. ["Yes, please… they're nagging me back here…"]

"Alright, just wait a minute…" said Iruka; he didn't question the boy's last statement even if it had puzzled him: there was no reason for him to be nosy.

The man made his way to the door. Outside, Narutowas running and jumping into every agglomeration of snow he could find and, of course, he was almost completely soaked from chest down, uncaring of the risk of catching a cold… Gaara on the other hand was sitting calmly on the last step of the front door and was much more composed as he watched the other act an a way that put to shame even the most hyperactive of three year-olds; the red-haired child seemed also intrigued by the off-balanced construction – supposedly a snowman - Naruto had made some time before. Iruka observed the scene for a few seconds, a smile distending his mouth, then he spoke up.

"Naruto-kun! Your friend, Sasuke-kun, is on the phone." called Iruka waving the receiver in the air lightly. "And where's your hat gone? You'll catch a cold!… Come to think of it, come back inside, both of you, it's getting dark."

"Whaaat? Sasuke, again…? Man… don't he have anythin' better ta do than calling every friggin' day?" said Naruto making his way after the dark-haired man that had gone back inside. "Oi, Gaara, Iruka-jii wants us back 'nside… let's go…"

Gaara didn't seem to have heard the other kid, as he continued to stare out at the garden and Naruto, seeing that his friend was lost in his own little world, shrugged and reached Iruka who gave him the phone at the other end of which one Uchiha Sasuke was starting to curse minutely: he didn't like waiting and he was fed up with the constant poking he was receiving from the impatient people standing behind him, trying to listen on to the conversation – the non-existing conversation, as the 'dobe' had yet to take the phone.

Just when the raven-haired child had turned to his 'pokers' yelling a string of "Will-you-just-shut-the-fuck-up-and-leave-me-the-heck-alone?", Naruto put the receiver to his ear and promptly pulled it away with a wince and a grimace.

_"__When Sasuke starts yellin', he sure is loud…"_ thought the blond briefly, before speaking into the bottom part of the receiver in his hand to gain the attention of the ones on the other side. "Oi, teme, stop shoutin', will you?" silence returned on Sasuke's side, interrupted only by muttering. "Sasuke, 's up witcha? I mean, it's – what? – at least the fourth time you've called… what didja do to the 'I-don'-care-'bout-anyone' Sasuke-teme?" Naruto stopped to regain his breath and continued without waiting for an answer. "I've heard ya more this week than since I started buggin' ya back on the first day o' school…!"

["... Don't remind me of that awful day. Karma must hate me, to burden me with such a thing as _you_..."] came Sasuke's annoyed response.

From somewhere near the raven-haired kid, a voice sprung up and dandily commented that statement. ["Maybe you did some bad things in a past life, Sasuke-kun… Gai-sensei always says youth is made of mistakes too: the important is make up for the bad things! So, one of your best pals is Naruto-kun because in a past life you treated him horrib— gwaaah!"]

["If you dare continue _that_, Lee, I swear Gai-sensei won't recognize you when you get home!"] came another voice - female, threatening and quite scary.

["B-but..."] stuttered Lee ["I was just saying, Sakura-chan… Karma is very clear: if Sasuke-kun is so close to Naruto-kun, it must be because he was b— WAAHHH! No, Sakura-chan! I'll stop, I'll stop!"] and thus the sounds of scuffling were heard.

Naruto could only sweat drop… "Sasuke…? Care to explain…?"

["That's why I called: these buggers invaded my house and demanded to have news of you, since you started vacation early because of… what happened… as for why I've been calling a lot, well that's simply Itachi's fault..."] answered Sasuke, completely ignoring the noise coming from behind him - Sakura was still trying to throttle Lee.

"Oh… uhm, I guess ya can say hi ta them for me an' also wish 'em a Merry Christmas… once they're finished tryin' to kill one another…" a grunt was the only sign that his friend had heard and understood what he said. "I'd better get going: Iruka-jii must have dinner ready and I'm kinda hungry… bye Sasuke, an' Merry Christmas to both you an' 'Tachi-san!"

["Yeah, yeah, you too... I've got another call to do; bye."] and with that, the youngest Uchiha hung up – the faint cries of attempted murder still coming from the other side of the receiver.

Naruto stood in the middle of the entry hall for a couple more minutes, staring at the phone with an eyebrow raised. "That was… kinda weird."

"Naruto? Is everything all right…?" said kid looked up and smiled at Iruka's darkly tanned face.

"Yup!" he said, nodding.

"Good." Iruka smiled back at him. "Do me a favour and call Gaara back in: dinner's ready and I want both of you to wash your hands and change into some dry clothes."

"Yessir!" said the boy as the other turned on his heels and disappeared inside the kitchen.

* * *

_- At a certain man's house. -_

Said man was furiously drawing circles on his left temple with his free hand while the other one held a cell phone to his right ear; the call had been going on for at least twenty minutes. "No, Sasuke…! I don't know why Saturn has those damned rings around it!… What do you mean, I should know? Listen, I don't give a fuck about planets; why don't you ask Itachi?"

["… How can I ask Itachi, if he's not here?"]

"Oh, don't take me for a fool, kid, I'm way older than you and I know very well that fucking idiot is there somewhere!"

["You're 'way older than me'…? You do understand you just called yourself **old**, don't you?"]

"…_You_—!"

["By the way... do you have _any_ idea how old the oldest turtle in the world is…?"]

"What the hell—? Will you stop asking me these questions?… Why are you bothering me?"

["Oh, I'm bothering you…? I'm sorry… you get bothered a lot, don't you?"]

"YES! This past week has been hell!"

["Really…? Who's been giving you hell?"]

"… Are you serious…? YOU! _You_ are giving me hell!"

["Am I, really… well, then, as I'm already talking to you, would you mind telling me how's Naruto? It's been _a while_ since I last heard him…"]

"Damn it! I've already told you where to find him about a dozen times!"

["Are you _sure_…? 'Cause I don't remember…"]

"Yes, dammit! I gave all the information I had and could give away!… Now leave me the heck alone!"

["… After all the swearing you did, you start with lighter curses _now_?"]

"**Sasuke**, if you don't cut it out, I swear I'll sneak into your room to personally strangle you barehanded!"

["Oh, well, if you have to go into crazy-PMSing-woman stage, I guess I'll let you be."]

"_Crazy-PMSing-woman stage_? Why you—!"

But the phone call ended abruptly.

* * *

_- __Uchiha Mansion. -_

"Itachi-nii, I'm done… for today."

"Well done, my dear otouto; here's your reward: 20 dollars for annoying Kakashi."

"Thanks. Really, working him up is sooo easy… one would think he'd be used to this kind of pestering and sudden change of subject, but apparently he's not…"

"Why should he be used to it?"

"Simple: it's called _**Naruto**_."


	10. A Peaceful Day

_**5/30/2010**_

_**EDIT! Pretty much nothing changed here… basically because it's somewhat recent so the style is closer to my tastes right now. I had the intention of putting a scene with the police talking to Gaara, but I think I'll put it in the 12**__**th**__** or 13**__**th**__** chapter…**_

_**Ja ne,  
Temari 88 :D**_

* * *

_IT'S BEEN 5 MONTHS! O.O _

_Oh my God, I'm such a horrible person...! I don't have enough words to beg your pardon! I suck! I've left you all hanging for an awful amount of time when I said I'd be back soon! Please, don't send kamikaze at my house: I've already caused myself a concussion banging my head on the wall hundreds of thousands times ù.ù Gaah! I could go on like this forever... my muse has been a bitch for DBS... ç.ç_

_Well, I'd like to say a HUGE thanks to all those who supported me for my exams (which went pretty good, haha! :D) AND this story! A big thanks also to those who put the fic in their __favourites, even when I hadn't been updating since July! XD_

_I think it's enough babbling, you've waited longer than necessary! _

_Enjoy!_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88 (wondering how many reviews she'll get :P)_

* * *

_**Sometimes life ain't best if left in the memory**__**,  
it's better kept inside than left for good.  
Lookin' back each time they tried to tell me  
well something's gotta go wrong  
cuz I'm feelin' way too damn good**_

**- Feelin' Way Too Damn Good  
by Nickleback -**

* * *

_"__I always liked my quiet, when I was young…"_

_"__I didn't. I'd die of boredom if __there was too much silence for too long…! I'm used to have a constant background noise."_

_"__Hah, now I do as well; guess I shouldn't be surprised though…"_

_"… __Am I hearing a vague reference to __**someone**__ I know…?"_

_"__Um, maybe."_

_"__Should this __**someone**__ take it as a bad or a good thing? Just 'cos, y'know, this way I can tell them the next time I see them…"_

_"__Well… you can tell __**them**__ 'both'. And that I wouldn't have it any other way."_

_"… __Oooh… I think this __**someone**__ is very __**glad**__ to hear it."_

_"… __Moron…"_

_"…_ _Panda…"_

_"…"_

* * *

**(CHAPTER 10)**

Iruka looked round the kitchen and the connected living-room: he had just finished cleaning them, after the previous days' feast - they might have had a New Year's Eve dinner for only four people, but that didn't mean the cooking and eating and general playing around didn't do quite a mess anyway. The man, while wiping his brow with his sleeve, thought that maybe dismissing Kakashi's offer to help him clean up had not been the best idea... he was positively tired; he should have slept a few more hours, he knew that, but he wasn't _all _that comfortable with the fact that he was currently sharing his bedroom with Naruto's 'jiji' and, though they weren't sharing the _bed_ (Iruka tried to suppress the picture of them under the same covers, failing quite miserably and resulting in blushing a light shade of pink), it still unnerved him somewhat.

Iruka thought back. Kakashi had been invited to spend Christmas there with the man and the two children; the older man had gladly accepted: he didn't want Naruto to pass those first holidays as an orphan under the roof of some almost-stranger's house - Kakashi didn't have to worry too much about the other kid living there, because Naruto could make friends out of everyone... even the most company-despising person, if Uchiha Sasuke was any indication. This said, the brown-haired man obviously wasn't aware that a person like Kakashi _always _had other motives to do what they did; in this case, the cop was intrigued by Iruka (he had been ever since their encounter at 'Konoha Child Care Office') and he was curious to see in just how many ways he could get the other worked up.

That had proved to be easier that Kakashi had first thought… simply by suggesting that he could sleep in Iruka's room, the man had began to (internally) panic – Iruka had tried to not show it, but the cop had pictured it very clearly: he had mentally seen the social worker running around with his hands up in the air, screaming profanities in some unknown language – much to Kakashi's amusement. Gaara and Naruto had been somewhat puzzled by the two men, but they had shrugged it off as some weird 'adult' behavior.

The vacation spent like that, all together, had left in everyone's hearts a sense of… belonging. They had known each other for a very short while, but already the four of them could feel a connection forming between them and, strangely enough, none seemed to mind; after all, Naruto and Gaara had taken rather well to each other's company and now spent a lot of time together (not always doing _things_ together, but they had taken a use of staying in the same room so that they could talk over what they did) and no matter how much the two adults acted around each other, it was clear that there was _something_ going on.

"Hah… I guess I'm finished here…" said Iruka, coming back to the present and ridding his mind of potentially dangerous thoughts.

It was a few minutes past 9 am, the house was silent as the man paced the corridor that led to the bedrooms and the back of the building. Passing Naruto's room, Iruka decided to get in to make sure the place was not upside down… it was not, thankfully but the blond boy could make a mess in there, even when he didn't sleep in it, just to take out his clothes; Gaara on the other side, was a very precise person, it seemed, and always insisted to keep his room tidy on his own – and he _did_, though Iruka snuck in at least once a day nonetheless.

The man took a seat on the blonds' bed, thinking about what he knew of him… witnessing his parents' and sister's death must have left a deep mark on the boy, though Naruto had yet to mention that night – it was almost like he had forgotten he used to have a family to begin with – he sort of tiptoed around it, careful to avoid topics that would lead to unpleasant questions, but without actually doing it on purpose because… he was always cheerful and smiling and Iruka honestly didn't know what to think about the whole thing, but he _knew_ it wasn't in his position to ask questions that could awaken too much pain.

The man had tried acquiring some answers from Kakashi, but the other had been vague and reticent; to Iruka had seemed that the cop himself didn't really know what to think of the scene that had welcomed him at the Namikaze household – every time they touched the subject, however slightly, Kakashi got this weary frown that would stay for a mere second before being rapidly washed out.

The social worker was still lost in his thoughts, when the door of the room next to Naruto's opened and closed quietly; the sounds of socked feet paddling on the hard wood signalling Gaara had 'woken up' to go to the bathroom. A few minutes later found Iruka in the process of grabbing the door handle to exit the room, only to have it turned in his palm from the other side.

"… Iruka-san…" said the boy, matter-of-factly, as he realized who was in front of him.

"Gaara. Good morning!" replied the man, smiling. "Slept well…?"

"… Naruto snores…" he tried to avoid a direct answer because Iruka (as well as Naruto) didn't know that he didn't sleep. A growling snort echoed Gaara's statement. _"Not this early, Shukaku."_

**"Aww ya kill all the fun…! Ya know, ya not bein'**** a mornin' person is ironic, ha!"**

"Ah… I understand. If you're still tired you can use Naruto's bed…" suggested Iruka, seeing the slightly pained expression on the red-haired boy's face.

"No, it's fine. I'm not tired… it's just a bit of headache."

That said, Gaara turned around and disappeared into the living-room where, as had become his habit, he took a seat on the green arm-chair in the corner closest to the kitchen; it was only then that Iruka noticed a book and Kuma-chan in each of Gaara's hands. The kid curled on his seat, drew the plush toy to rest in his lap, opened the book at half and started reading quietly.

"… Gaara, would you like some milk?" offered Iruka, almost fearful of disturbing the child's concentration. His answer was a simple nod. "With chocolate?" another nod and the man smiled at the cute image of Gaara reading with his favorite toy.

**"Haha!"** came the barking laugh from the demon inside Gaara's mind.

_"… __What."_ dead-panned the 'host'. _"You just _can't_ let me read in peace, can you?"_

**"Ouch. So cold…!"** imaginary paw over the chest in mock hurt. **"Okay, kiddo, if ya hafta be like that I won't tell ya anythin'…"**

_"__You already disrupted my concentration… now answer the question, stupid raccoon."_

**"Wha' question?... Oh! Yah****, I can't let ya read in peace: annoyin' ya 's fun!"**

_"__Not _that_ question." _said Gaara with his teeth gritted. _"The other one!"_

**"Other one? Ya**** asked no other question…"**

_"__Yes I did."_

**"Oh, ya**** mean that 'What.'?... That's no question: that's called statement."**

_"… Shu. ka. ku__."_ warned Gaara, stressing each syllable of the demon's name as a warning.

**"Ok, ok."** the raccoon gave up. **"I was just thinkin' that the nigen over there most likely thought ya were **_**'cute'**_**…"** saying the last word, the demon let his smirk show.

_"…"_

**"See? I knew it was bet****ter if ya didn't know."**

_"__THEN WHY DID YOU TELL ME?"_ replied Gaara, raising his voice internally and gripping the book he had been reading until his knuckles turned white.

**"'Cause ya**** asked me."** it was Shukaku's turn to dead-pan.

_"__And since _when_ you do what I tell you?"_

**"Wha'? If I do as I want, ya complain; if I do what **_**ya**_** want, ya complain."** whined the demon, with a voice strangely resembling Naruto's one. **"Ya know… you're one, bitchin' guy! If ya continue like this, no one will want ya!"**

_"__As if I care!"_ countered the boy with a slightly twitching eye. _"It's me the one that doesn't want–"_

"… Gaara?" Iruka was waving a hand in front of the child's face, trying to get him out of his inner conversation – which he didn't know was happening. "Gaara, your chocolate." smiled the man as he saw the green eyes focus back on him.

"Uh, thank you." mumbled the red-haired boy, putting down the novel and reaching for the glass; as Iruka turned on his heels to disappear in the back of the house, Gaara looked up to glance at the clock: it was 10.15 am…

It was strange, at that hour, that the house was so quiet… though he should have been used to it, seeing as his Ojii-sama's house was always silent – Yashamaru never liked loud noises and Gaara himself had always been calm and respectful of the man's wishes, thus he kept to himself and spoke lowly and never without purpose, even when they indulged in some music, it was just loud enough to hear; Gaara liked his quiet no doubt about that but, since he started living in that house, with a naturally loud kid such as Naruto, whenever the silence lasted too long a heavy atmosphere descended in the air…

Gaara didn't know what to think of the blond boy. He was one of a kind, that much was clear… but of _what_ kind, exactly? That remained a mystery still. Gaara had resumed his reading, though it would have taken very little to realize he was not actually paying any attention to the words before him: he was silently considering what few he knew about Naruto… from the hints Shukaku had let slip, the demon was positive he had seen the other seven year-old before; better yet, Shukaku declared he knew him quite well… how that was possible, when the raccoon had inhabited his mind for as long as he could remember… well, that was a matter he had to dwell on separately. There was also the episode of some days prior… the sand demon thought he had forgotten about it, but reality was he hadn't… how was he supposed to dismiss it? It couldn't just have been sheer luck or intuition, it had been definitely something more but what? What had pushed him to say those things…?

Gaara had also secretly been wondering (in a corner of his head, far away from Shukaku's presence): Naruto had a sunny personality, there was no doubt about that; he had a smile at the ready in whatever moment, whoever he had in front of him; he was open to new experiences because he was curious; he had a kind word for everyone, whether he knew them or not; he was hyperactive and loud; he generally disliked secrets and spoke his mind always, to the point of being sometimes rude… yet there was something _more_ to him, that he couldn't put his finger on… it was like a dark presence staying in the background, just out of sight, ready to spring into action at any moment…

So why? Why Naruto never seemed tense or on edge?… What irked Gaara the most was the fact that the 'something' gave him a feeling similar to when Shukaku was eager to act, to use his host's body to carry out his plans (however wicked or stupid they might be) but it couldn't be: Shukaku was exclusively inside him – much to his chagrin – so the boy didn't know how to explain what he felt but refused to ask the sand demon, even if he suspected Shukaku knew the answer, because he hated when the bastard became a SMUG bastard.

Plus he didn't want the fucking animal to know he was _that much_ interested in Naruto: he would never hear the end of it. So for now, Gaara decided to let the topic fall back in the recesses of his mind and get on with finishing the novel had taken up to read a couple of days before.

* * *

The rest of the day went on pretty much like every other since Kakashi had arrived: the cop teasing everyone – mostly his 'Oi' and Iruka, because the man had learned quickly that the red-haired seven year-old was not easily enraged – whenever he got the chance; Naruto chattier than ever, bouncing about and almost making Iruka drop the dishes; the social assistant all smiles, hefty hands cooking the meals, avoiding the traps Kakashi laid for him (like some hidden dirty joke only 'grown-ups' could understand); Gaara quietly seated with his back straight, answering questions every once and awhile and spacing out for minutes at a time.

All in all, they looked like a family of sorts. They enjoyed each other's company as if they had lived that way, all together, before.

-x-

"Hey, hey! Gaara! Whatddya think…?"

"…"

"Gaaaaaraaa…! Are ya listenin' to meeee?" Naruto found the other's name was perfect for whining, with all those vocals it was like you were _forced_ to stretch it out endlessly.

"… Uh… hn?" Gaara had been in one of his spacing out moments. "What did you say?"

"Geez what's with ya always doin' that…?" commented the blond boy, shaking his head. "What, got a group of monkeys dancin' round your head? 'Cause if ya do, I wanna see 'em too!"

Gaara turned to stare at the other with two icy green eyes. "I'll do you the courtesy of not commenting on that." his voice was flat as a surf-board, eyes narrowing at the sheepish look Naruto had the sense of putting on his face while he cracked a joke inside his own mind. _"Not monkeys, no. But… you heard that _Raco-chan_? Want to dance for me a bit…?"_

**"I DON'T like tha'**** sarcastic tone, kiddo." **growled the demon. _**"I'll kill tha' Namikaze kid, one day…!"**_

"There you go again… Gaara!" Naruto interrupted his peer's thoughts by snapping his fingers in front of the other's face. "I asked ya what you think of this movie…! Have ya even being payin' attention?"

"Yes I was." answered the red-haired boy, leaning down on the carpet so that his weight was onto his elbows and glancing at his friend. "And I think that, over all, it was done pretty badly… just like the other four; oh, and it's an insult to anyone who's read the novels."

"… Uh. But, but those jinks where great, right?" Naruto had sparkles in his eyes at the memory. "An' the fireworks…! I want 'em too! That dragon-thingy was _awesome_!"

"Yeah, that's the wonders of technology for you… and, really, that was the best part of the movie: isn't it disappointing?" Gaara shook his head to further prove his point. "Is it possible…? I mean they changed, what, four directors? And everyone did a job that surprisingly was almost worse than the previous…"

"O-kay…" Naruto was looking at his red-haired friend as if he were an alien. "Who're you, a critic? Ya work for some magazine in secret…? Aren't cha too strict 'bout this…?"

"What…? Of course I'm no critic, baka." Gaara waved at Naruto, dismissing the almost-scared-but-almost-respectful expression on the other's face. "I just can't stand when movies taken from books get screwed up like this."

"Then why didja look at the movie?"

"Are you serious…?" it was Gaara's turn to stare at the other, a look of disbelief distorting his features. "It was YOU who forced ME to see this thing!" the red-haired boy reached out and smacked the blond on the back of his head.

"Oww!"

"Shut it, I know you're acting. I didn't hit you that hard." said Gaara with a roll of his eyes. Naruto stuck out his tongue and prepared himself to pounce on the other kid, when Gaara saw him. "Don't. even. try it." he said, pointing a finger at him.

"Uff… you're no fun, Gaara…" pouted Naruto.

They sat there on the floor, engaged in a staring contest - though on Gaara's part it was only half serious and Naruto wasn't really a glaring Master, so his narrowed eyes didn't do much of anything - for a while and when the older of the two was about to claim victory, the door of Gaara's room opened without the boys realizing, revealing Kakashi and, right behind him, Iruka; the two men looked on the scene with an amused glint in the eye and a sweat-drop respectively. The two sets of eyes, one baby blue and the other bluish-green, were narrowed and while Gaara's expression was clearly showing the irritation (however slight) he felt at Naruto's antics, the other seven year-old was obviously having some difficulties refraining his laughter.

"… Uh, guys?" Iruka finally thought it would have been better to interrupt them. The two boys turned toward the source of the voice and the social worker smiled at the pair.

"You about to start a cat-fight or something?" commented Kakashi, his grin still present. "'Cause if you are, I sure as hell want to see."

"Kakashi-jiji, ya ero-cop!"

"… I heard something similar just minutes ago…"

"Hatake-san!"

"Just kidding, just kidding!" the silver-haired man raised his hands in surrender, chuckling. "… I already know who'd loose…" he added, looking pointedly at his oi and receiving a slightly growling offended sound in response.

"Ehm ehm… I think it's better if you two go to prepare for bed…"

"Aww… okay, Iruka-jiji…" said Naruto, getting up as slowly as he could to empathize his unwillingness. Gaara, for his part, got up without making a fuss and after throwing a disapproving look at the other kid, he picked up his pajamas before heading out the door.

-x-

"Iruka-san…" Kakashi's voice, surprisingly soft, made a shiver run down the other man's spine; who, swallowing through his suddenly dry throat, turned toward the silver-haired man.

"Yes, Hatake-san?"

"Do you mind if I take up your room…?"

"Huh…?" came the puzzled answer.

"I said, do you mind if I take up your bedroom for tonight?" repeated Kakashi, smiling. "I know I shouldn't ask this, but I'd like to spend some time alone with Naruto…" clarified the cop.

"… Oh. Oh! Well, yes… I mean, no. I don't mind." replied Iruka, flushing a bit and kicking himself mentally for it.

"You sure?" pried the twenty-four year-old, pretending he hadn't seen the pink dusting the other's cheeks.

"Yes, yes! There's no problem, I'll sleep in Naruto's room."

"Alright, then. Arigato."

That said, Kakashi opened the bedroom's door and slid inside where, in a red and green pajama, Naruto was waiting for him on top of the covers, his short legs crossed. As the child spotted him, he started bouncing happily, smiling from ear to ear and the smile Kakashi had just let form on his lips, slipped a bit causing his condescend expression to turn into a sad one – his resolve in doing what had to be done almost vanishing, but he knew there won't be any other opportunity: tomorrow Kakashi will return to his own home and the day after, work awaited him… and with it, his boss awaited him also.

"Kakashi-jiji… ya done standing there?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry… you know, _grownups_ think once in awhile." answered Kakashi with a small grin… irritating Naruto _was_ one of his favorite activities, after all, and the boy never resisted to say something to defend himself.

"Hey!" shouted the blond seven year-old. "I think too, for your information!"

_"__Predictable…"_ thought the man, amused. "Ooooh…! Such **big** words for such a **small** boy…!"

Before Naruto had a chance to counter, Kakashi made his way to the bed; sitting down a few inches from the boy, he made a motion for him to come closer, his face not as joyful as it had been moments before and it somewhat scared Naruto to see his non-blood-related ojii-san acting like that.

"Kakashi-jiji…" whispered Naruto.

"Yes, Naruto?"

"You're not a woman, are ya?"

"_**What**_?" sputtered the man, flabbergasted and completely taken aback. "NO! Why would you say that?"

"Well… yanno… in five minutes you've changed expression four times…!"

Kakashi was shaking his head, unbelieving. "I hope you'll never do something like that with your future girlfriend… you can be such a mood killer sometimes…"

"Mood killer…?"

"Leave it – I don't have time to explain now."

The room went silent for awhile; neither of the occupants wanted to interrupt the quiet - in the distance they could hear the low hum of the TV coming from the living-room: it seemed that Iruka was still awake. Naruto had begun rocking back and forth gently, unable like always to sit still for long periods of time and it was clear that he was dying to say something but he had no idea why Kakashi was acting so… solemn and dare he say pained… so the boy could do nothing more than wait.

"Naruto…" Kakashi's now somber voice startled him.

"Kakashi-jiji?"

"I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but I need you to do this for me…" again, that pained expression.

"What is it…?" Naruto was getting confused.

"… What happened that night…?" Kakashi knew there was no need to be more specific.

"…"


	11. Remembering That Last Day With a Family

_****_

5/30/2010

_**EDIT!... COMPLETE!**_

_**Alright, I'm finished with my self-appointed revise of this story so now I can finally get a move on with the next chapter, yay! :D I'll try to be quick and write it in two weeks' time cos I was starting to really, really miss this… :(**_

_**Hopefully some of my readers will still be interested in reading ^.^**_

_**Ja ne,  
Temari 88**_

* * *

_Hello everyone :D_

_Okay, I'm a slow writer, I think you've understood it by now, ne? ^^" But I'm here with another chapter of this story, yay! I was so happy I'd finished it and so eager to put it up, that I'd forgotten something: the small dialog at the beginning (and the song) XP Alright, sorry for keeping that cliffhanger hanging for two months..._

_Thanks to everyone for sticking with this fic! Now, on with the chapter! (Even if Iruka doesn't have big part here... sorry 'Ruka! __^^)_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88 XD_

* * *

_**Together in all these memories  
I see your smile**__**;  
all the memories I hold dear…  
darling you know I love you till the end of time**_

**- Memories****  
by Within Temptation -**

* * *

_"__Seeing all the horrible things th__at happen around us makes me lose faith in people…"_

_"__What makes you think that…?"_

_"__What I see and hear, daily; what I recall from my own memory…you know what I mean: you've seen it as well."_

_"__Yeah, yeah I did. Some people rejoice in hurting others… but I think we should try and look at the bright side…!"_

_"__I admire your will power, but sometimes it's just not that easy."_

_"… __True but you know me – I'm tough, 'm not gonna get beat down easily either."_

_"__I'm glad to hear it."_

_"__Uh! Plus, we gotta keep on living, so that those we lost can watch over us and be proud of who we've become!"_

_"__Yes… we should never forget the people that cared and trusted us…"_

* * *

**(CHAPTER 11)**

"… What… did you… say…?" whispered Naruto feebly; of all the things he had thought Kakashi would ask, that hadn't even crossed his mind. He was so honestly shocked, he couldn't really feel anything – all he could do was blink up at Kakashi who, on his part, kept gazing at the boy unblinkingly with his unmasked eye, his grey pupil so intense and focused that it was as if he was facing an endless pool.

"You heard me, Naruto." he replied quietly. His trained sight taking in every tiny and close-to-invisible shifting of the blond boy's body. The man didn't really _want_ to do this, but he had no other choice: he was one of those in charge of investigating on what happened to his former sensei and most of his family… and even if Sarutobi-san had disagreed on letting him handle the case, Kakashi knew he would have done everything in his power to find out the truth - it was his duty both as on officer and as an ojii-san. "I know you saw… and I know it hurts to think about it, but if we want to understand, I need you to do this for me…"

Naruto had closed his big blue eyes, squeezing them so hard he was seeing millions of white little lights behind his eyelids; he resisted the urge to lift his hands to his ears to bock out Kakashi's words. _"Why…? Why 's he doin' this?"_ Naruto squeezed his eyes even harder, gritting his teeth as he inhaled a lungful of air to calm himself, but failing… _"I don't wanna remember…!"_

In his mind's eye, an image of his family formed unwillingly. His father, his mother, his sister… all smiling brightly in what those close to the Namikaze family used to call 'the supernova grin' - typical of the four of them - and they were beckoning him to go to them, with eager hand gestures and the blinding bright presence and easy-going jokes that he couldn't hear and… it made his heart throb with the very _injustice_ of it all: they were not bad people. "_THEY WERE NOT!_ _Then__** why**__?"_

"… Kakashi-jiji…"

"Yes…" the man's right brow furrowed imperceptibly; he was somehow put off by Naruto's reaction – the refusal he had put up at first had somehow melted away (though the kid had still his eyes closed tight), leaving a wound up seven year-old sitting stiffly on the bed – because he had expected his oi to shut him out like he sometimes did when this particular subject was touched.

"… Tou-san was not… he wasn't a bad person…"

"No, Naruto. He was the best man I've ever had the honor of calling sensei and friend. Without his help, this city would be in a so much worse position…" said Kakashi. He could imagine what was going on inside the blond boy's mind: he couldn't understand the reason why his family, over all, had to be wiped out. "Also your mother and Saya-chan were good people. What happened to them is cruel and unfair – that's why I need to know what you remember, Naruto…"

The boy looked up to stare his ji-ji in the eye, blue irises dulled by sadness and round face strangely devoid of expression; Naruto could feel a steady pulse building up in his skull as the beginning of a headache made itself known – he didn't want to revive his last night as a child with a family: it hurt too much… yet he knew he didn't have any choice and he guessed having to do it in front of Kakashi was much better than having to answer to some stranger's questions… "Alrigh', Ji-ji… but I don't think I'll help much…"

Kakashi nodded, making sure that Naruto understood that he had no intention of forcing him to remember any more than what he had seen – he didn't want to torture his charge; he didn't need any more pressure. "That's fine, Naruto. I just need to know what you saw."

There was a long pregnant silence during which Naruto changed position on the bed, finally settling with his back painfully rigid and his legs bent under his body; his blue eyes trained on his hands – entwined in his lap – as they clenched and relaxed. "… That morning was normal enough: Kaa-san wakin' Saya an' me, getting' breakfast, shakin' Tou-san awake 'cause he hadn't heard the alarm; him rushin' 'bout trying ta do everything at the same time 'til Kaa-san pinned 'im on a chair and made him eat… mom had a day off from the hospital an' she'd decided goin' shopping with Saya. Dad drove me to school, then went to work…"

"Wait, why was Saya-chan at home?"

"Her school was on vacation." answered the boy before continuing. "… Anyway… I was at school 'til midday playin' around with Sasuke and the others, then I remember Itachi-san coming to pick up Sasuke an' they offered to give me a ride. They dropped me in front of the gate an' I went in… everythin' looked normal - I mean, there was nuthin' out of place and I didn't hear sounds… only the TV; I went into the living room but it was empty, the kitchen was too… upstairs I found Saya-chan playin' in her room; I looked for Kaa-san but it was like she was gone, then I heard her voice: she was in her and Tou-san's bedroom, talkin' on the phone."

"Was it something important? Did you hear what she was saying?"

Naruto shook his head, throwing a glance at Kakashi and went on. "Didn't pay attention, it _did_ sound like something serious… but I didn't go in. The rest of the day was sorta boring… but there was a… heavy feeling in the air – I could feel it, a chill that made me shudder - I saw a dark look on Kaa-san: she wasn't as cheerful as usual and her shoulders were stiff… it was like she was expectin' something ta happen…"

Kakashi never looked away from the boy; observing every detail, trying to understand if Naruto was leaving things out – painful things that he didn't want to relive but that may be important to put the happenings back together, making the whole picture clear. It was not easy for the man to maintain some sort of balance between the 'ji-ji' and the 'cop', it was a difficult position because he cared a lot for Naruto and could empathize with him, yet he had a part of him that just wanted to shut down all emotions to keep his mind cool and clear, so he could absorb everything that might turn out as useful – like that phone call.

"Tou-san came home early too…" Naruto had gone back to stare at his hands. "he helped me with homework, but he was very worried 'bout somethin'…" Kakashi narrowed his eye imperceptibly at that but didn't comment. "we ate dinner and we had just gone in the living room ta watch TV together, when… the window exploded and a, uuh, smoke shot out of somewhere and I couldn't see anythin' anymore… I heard some shouts and I tried to find Saya-chan – she was sitting near me – but she wasn't there; there was noise and sounds of things getting broken and of a fight… the smoke was too much so all I saw were shadows…"

Naruto's face had lost a good portion of his color as the recounting went on, yet his whole appearance was so stoic, so emotionless, it was like the things he was describing did not happen to him, _in front_ of him… and, admittedly, it almost scared Kakashi (and the worst part had yet to come). "So… are you saying you didn't actually see who barged into the room? Because of the smoke?"

"No, I did see who it was." answered the boy, frowning slightly before going back to a blank expression. "It took some time before the smoke was gone… when I could see again, I saw the room was a mess – the table in the center broken, the shelves hangin', the couch upside down and feathers and dust floatin' – and Tou-san was fightin' a long-haired man with a knife near the TV… another man with glasses was holdin' onto Kaa-san, a gun at her head… I was down near the wall dividing the corridor and the living room, no one noticed me so I tried to find my nee-chan… she was on the floor, face down… in a pool of blood…"

Kakashi's eye widened, surprised, and tried to say something comforting but found the rigid, stone-like posture of the blond child so overwhelmingly emotionless that he couldn't utter a word – the man knew Naruto was just trying to protect himself form the burning pain he was surely feeling, still it was so un-Naruto-like it was frightening. "Naruto…?"

The seven year-old made no movement to indicate he had heard him; his lips just went on talking as if nothing interrupted him. "Kaa-san was cryin', I think… I was cryin' too maybe… I didn't get when Saya was hit… next thing I know, Tou-san got kicked in the stomach and while he tried to stand up, the man he'd been fighting neared me, pickin' me up from the front of my pjs… think he slapped me or somethin' but I was so shocked I couldn't feel anything…" one of the tiny hands resting on Naruto's lap came up to lightly trace the scars on his right cheek. "that guy… he lifted the knife and cut through my skin… I don't know how long it took, I jus' know that, with each cut, Kaa-san and Tou-san's faces became more and more white…"

Even though Naruto was obviously trying to hide it, his hands had begun to shake visibly. Kakashi himself could feel his insides twist as he tried to imagine how it might feel like – being too young to do anything more than watch your parents (normally so strong and full of pride) ask to leave the kid alone and take them instead – only to bring himself out of it, because he couldn't let go: his adopted nephew needed him. The man kept silent; the end of the – horrible - tale was close.

"… Kaa-san freed herself from the four-spectacled guy – I dunno how - and attacked the one holdin' me… I fell down, coughin' for some time… my ears were ringing badly, I couldn't sort through the sounds; I was 'bout to look up again to see what was happenin', when I felt somethin' wet hit my hand – somethin' red – and then a someone fell down near me: Kaa-san, with a cut on her neck… and blood getting' out of it… I-I think I fainted then cuz I don't… remember anything else, just… all that _red_…" Naruto buried his little hands in his blond hair and shook his head helplessly, a sting of pain in the back of his mind making him wince a bit. "I dunno how I ended up in that bedroom… maybe I blacked out after I ran away… I don't know…"

**_"… _**_**It's still too soon for you to know the full extent of what really happened back then… Kit."**_

Kakashi finally moved, draping an arm gently over the boy's shoulders and pulling him near. "It's all right, Naruto. It's fine. This is really more that I would have liked to put you through, but I had no choice…" when the boy looked up at him, the cop smiled reassuringly. "Now, do you feel up for sleeping some…?"

Naruto wasn't sure he would be able to sleep after what he had just revived, but it was actually quite late and he was tired both psychologically and physically so he nodded, pulling back the covers, snuggling into the pillow and slowly closing his eyes. In a matter of minutes, the young orphan was asleep, a strange humming sound echoing in some hidden corner of his mind – a lullaby of sorts.

The twenty-four year-old remained staring at the slightly disturbed face of his sensei's legacy in a deep contempt: there was no doubt about the authenticity of what Naruto had just told him – he knew the kid well enough to be sure he couldn't lie if his life depended on it – so that didn't worry him… Naruto loved his family more than his own life, it was plain clear the pain he was feeling. No, what Kakashi couldn't explain (even to his own self) was why he believed there was _more_ to it that what he had just heard… there was no reason for Naruto to hide things from him; plus it had looked as if Naruto didn't _know_ anything more…

– And yet…

"Kyuubi…"

… A small sliver of doubt continued to float around in his head…

"What the hell is 'Kyuubi'…?"

* * *

The next day, shortly after breakfast, Kakashi thought it was time to get the hell out of the house before Iruka decided he got tired of having him around and simply threw him out the door with his bag.

Naruto had woken up earlier than usual, acting like nothing of the discussion he had had with his ojii-san ever happened – maybe he even thought it had all been a bad dream or something along those lines – but the cop did not ask for explanations: knowing the kid, Naruto would pretend to not hear him, calling him 'silly Ji-ji' or throwing a cold stare his way _and then_ pretend he hadn't heard him. So the two of them said goodbye normally, with a hug and a pat on a blond head and a smile – they would see each other soon anyway.

-x-

"… Not that I really care, but" started a quiet voice from his right. "is there something wrong with you?"

Naruto looked up from his fable book to focus on the green eyes that were trained on him, trying not to give away the faint worry the other boy held in them. It was little past dinner time (8.30 pm) and he and Gaara were both in the living room, one cross-legged on the floor and the other on the green arm-chair in the corner and both were – surprisingly – reading (thought Gaara was keen on more difficult volumes than his blond friend) while Iruka finished cleaning the kitchen.

The red-haired child had been observing Naruto all day and the night before he had also heard voices coming from the room where the blond boy and the cop where to sleep; thanks to Shukaku's demon senses, Gaara had been able to hear the low murmuring of voices and, though he hadn't understood very well, he was sure the conversation had been about the reason why Naruto was currently living in that house. Gaara was far from oblivious, so he knew something with Naruto's parents must have happened (his intuition somehow reinforced by the weird 'speech' he didn't forget having said to a sleeping Naruto) and the other must have seen some, or all, of it… and if he was right, than there was no surprise Naruto was so reticent to talk about it.

"Wrong?" answered Naruto, lifting an eyebrow. "There's nuthin' wrong! What makes ya think that?" he laughed a little to ease out the tension but it was obvious to the red-haired that he was faking it: he was far from alright.

"You know… you're not _as good_ an actor as you might think, Naruto." he stated calmly, waiting for a reaction – it wasn't an accusation, just a fact – that arrived quickly: the laugh froze immediately and with it, his whole body went rigid, the blue eyes lost most of their light. _"Wow… I wasn't expecting such a drastic change…"_ he thought surprised.

**"****Oh really?"** Shukaku's voice sounded almost accusing inside his mind. **"Tha' was a low blow… ya coulda asked 'im more nicely…"**

_"__And you think he would have answered?"_

**"****W****ell, no, but still. I forgot ya could be **_**so**_** tactless sometimes…"**

_"… __Are you quite done? I'd like to pay attention if he ever decides to start talking…"_

**"****Maa, how rude o'**** me. Please go!"** with a sarcastic salute, Shukaku went back to sleep.

During Gaara's mini conversation with the sand demon, Naruto had relaxed somewhat and had let the breath he had been holding go. He had closed the book in front of him, turning to face Gaara fully, waiting for the other to come back to the real world – he had already gotten used to those random spacing out moments – and focus on him. The blond was completely astonished by the fact that Gaara had read him so well because, although he knew it was not _so_ difficult to see through him, as of now only Kakashi and few others – namely Sasuke, Sarutobi-ojii-chan, Hinata-chan and oddly-or-maybe-not Shikamaru – could understand him so well (his parents and sister sadly didn't count anymore), all because they had know him for a lot of time… but Gaara… he was different, even if they barely knew each other it was like they were meant to stick side by side… he couldn't explain it, but he didn't mind it. Maybe it was thanks to that closeness that the red-haired boy had sensed something was wrong with him?

"Why—no, _how_ didja know I wasn't feelin' okay…?" asked Naruto once jade eyes finally focused on him again. The other cocked his head to the side, considering – Naruto had taken it a lot better than he had thought.

"Uhm, I guess the gloomy cloud over your head pointed me in that direction. In addition, you might not realize it, but it's quite easy to see when you're faking – trying to fake – smiles: after seeing them day in and day out, you notice the difference…"

"Easy, you say… mph!" Naruto couldn't help the snort as he stared skeptically at the other seven year-old. "… Ya know most don't find it as easy as ya seem ta think… don't understand how, but ya can read me without effort… 'm surprised, in a good way, but still surprised."

It was Gaara's turn to be skeptical, how could this simple-minded kid be that unreadable? It was hard to believe. "Tz' I don't believe you." _"I'm no mind reader, how the hell would I understand this baka on sight?"_

**"****Aha! Wasn't planning to tell ya, but I see ya've discovered it on ya****r own!"** Shukaku shouted in a dramatic voice and a creepy _TA-DA-DA-DAAA!_ music wafting from a CD player.

_"__WHAT? I can really read minds…?"_

**"****No. Hahaha!"**

_"__Gah! Idiot tanuki! Stop messing around…!__ What are trying to do?" _embarrassed, Gaara suppressed the fierce blush scalding his guts with shame.

**"****Hey, no need ta be rude; 'M trying ta ease tha**** tension, here!"**

_"__Go to hell!"_ Gaara was seething, anger oozing out and reaching Shukaku, who shrugged it off like nothing.

**"****Yar mind's my Hell, my dear; sure, could be worse: I coulda be stuck inside Naruto-kun's mind, o'er there…"** and then he was back in his corner, playing poker with himself and losing.

Naruto sweat dropped as Gaara, firstly, got another space-out moment and then started muttering things like 'worse time ever' or 'I'll kill myself just to kill him'… that guy was freaking crazy, he was beginning to get worried… he should tell Iruka-jiji about it, least they woke up one day to find out they had been killed by a mad Gaara munching on a cookie and wearing a tanuki costume— _"What the _HELL_? Where did _that_ come from?"_

"Um guys…?"

Iruka's voice tore through the boys' thoughts as he informed them they could go watch a movie or some other thing over in Gaara's room if they wanted, because he had some work to catch up on and he needed quiet – the next day vacation ended for workers. The boys still had another week before school started again… which reminded Iruka of something: if Naruto was to stay with him and Gaara for an undetermined amount of time, they had to think about the school arrangement because there was no way he could drive both boys every morning – they went to different institutes, on opposite sides of Konoha – and he couldn't very well count on Kakashi-san, as the man lived a good twenty minutes from Iruka's house and they both had their own jobs to get to in time…

The social worker thought he could talk to the boys and to Kakashi-san to find a solution; maybe transfer one of the two… Iruka decided to ask Gaara and Naruto what was the name of their school, the nearest of the two could be contacted to see if it was possible to get a new student in even if it was already January… that is, if the kids agreed.

_"__Well, I'll think about it… for now let's get on with this…"_ thought Iruka as he picked up the first of the half dozen files in front of him.


	12. Distressed & Hiding

_*Peeks out from a corner* Hello everyone! :D_

_I know, I have NO EXCUSE for the terrible delay and neglect I left this fiction in... it reeeeaaaally wasn't my intention ^^; But look on the bright side, at least it hasn't been a year!_

_I hope someone will still be interested in this... :P  
I'll leave you to the chapter after this last advice: if you haven't already, I think you'd better go back and re-read at least from the 9th chapter on 'cause I made some changes.  
Oh! And please forgive the poor drunken-speech pattern present here._

_I won't make any more promises for the next chapter, I feel bad at letting you all down... ^^;_

_Enjoy!_

_Ja ne,  
Temari 88_

* * *

_**How can I be lost, when I've got nowhere to go?**_  
_**Search for seas of gold,**_  
_** how come it's got so cold?**_  
_** How can I be lost? In remembrance I relive.**_  
_**How can I blame you,**_  
_** when it's me I can't forgive?**_

**- The Unforgiven III**  
**by Metallica -**

_

* * *

_

_"I feel useless, sometimes..."_

_"Why?"_

_"When you're down, I can't seem to do anything worthwhile to help you... I'm your sister! I should be able to do that...!"_

_"You don't give yourself enough credit, you _do_ help me."_

_"... That might be, but I don't understand you nearly as much as I'd like, so I can't really _get _you."_

_"..."_

_"I envy that kid, you know...?"_

_"You do?"_

_"Yeah, he can reach you however deep you hide in yourself. When no one can get you to respond, he can... effortlessly."_

**

* * *

(CHAPTER 12)**

"… So, _Umino-jiji_, was there a reason why you called or were you just eager to hear me~~?" Kakashi was lazily slouched in his chair, his feet propped on the desk in front of him and holding his cell phone with one hand as the other was bended back over the backrest. He had been bored all morning, there at the police station, doing nothing but fill out reports that had piled up because he was too lazy to write them and his partner and his kouhai were far too rule-oriented – not to mention full blown bastards when it came to cover for him – to do him the favor of filling them in his stead; thankfully Kakashi's phone had started ringing right after lunch break, so the evil reports were put on hold for the time being—riling Iruka up was a most welcome past time, especially when the other started sputtering in outrage… like now.

["—Am I clear? I would appreciate if you refrained from saying such things! It's bad enough I have to associate with someone so annoying, I would _never_ call for such stupid reasons!"] ah, yes, Kakashi could just about picture the man's face contorted in anger and embarrassment but he stopped himself from laughing aloud. ["Hatake-san, I'm talking to you! Are you even listening?"] enter twitching brow on the social assistant list of irritation giving-away ticks.

"Aye, cap'n, I'm hearing you!" he added a salute-like motion, even though he knew the other could not see him, and chuckled when Iruka let loose a curse followed by his name and the accusation that he was having way too much fun with the conversation and to stop imitating pirate-talk because he sounded idiotic. "Arr, but I already have a patch on my eye – I might as well practise in case I have to impersonate a sailor for work…! Oh, and I could buy a fake parrot too!" a long silence was all Kakashi heard for a while then a wary sigh came to him via receiver.

["... Anyway…"] Iruka sounded beaten – he probably had given up on arguing with Kakashi. ["What I called for was to know if you've come up with an idea about what to do for the boys next semester of school… you know we can't let them continue in two different institutes: they're too far from each other and it'd be too complicated to drive them both."]

Kakashi went quiet for a couple of minutes, thinking. "If I'm not mistaken," he said "Gaara-kun attends to Konoha's private institute, Ouran, isn't it?" he heard sounds of rustling from the other side and could picture Iruka looking through the papers of the child's dossier, then a grunt of assent reached the cop's ears. "Well, that's near my apartment… Naruto's school is a public one: Kawarima… and I believe it's near your house, Iruka-san. Given the fact the boys live with you, I guess it would be a better option to transfer Gaara to Naruto's school, if that's possible… besides," went on the man, after a brief pause. "while the kid might have founds left by some relative, Gaara _is_ your charge and if you intend on making it official through papers and all that, _you_'ll have to take care of his school bills."

Iruka didn't say anything from the other side of the line, obviously thinking over his possibilities. ["... That was actually what I thought as well, having Gaara-kun changing school, that is."] he said eventually; the man sighed. ["And you're right, Ouran is a very expensive institute…"] another sigh as Iruka tried to count mentally just how much a year of tuition at that private school would have cost him and found his face paling at the thought of the sum he got – a year at Ouran equalled to _three years_ worth of his wager! And that was only with a very rough count, because he didn't know _exactly _how much the institute charged for its instruction – and couldn't help but swallow through a dry throat. ["I really can't afford the price… I'll have to convince Gaara-kun into changing school…"]

"Yeah, you do that, _Iruka-jiji_. Don't forget to mention he'll probably end up in Naruto's class, though." said Kakashi, teasing the other but getting ignored, as Iruka was still trying to recompose himself from the shock of the monstrous amount of money people could make others pay just for elementary tuition. At one point, the brown-haired man shook himself out of his reverie, registering what the officer had said about Naruto.

["Why would I need to point that out?"] he asked, curious.

"Because I feel that'll help convince your charge to go with your idea – he _does _seem rather fond of my nephew." replied Kakshi with a small smirk.

["… If you say so… well, I need to get back to work. Goodbye."]

"Psh, 'get back to work' my ass: you're not even at your office." scoffed Kakashi, not wanting to separate himself from his lovely social assistant—no, okay, he was just desperate to get the conversation going: the longest the phone call, the less time to 'do his job' (not that he had done much besides sitting at his desk reading _Icha Icha_…)! "It's not like there's people breathing down your neck if you slack off." he waved a hand dismissively for emphasis even though the other could not see him.

A snort was his answer. ["I **don't** slack off. If anything, that's _your_ speciality, isn't it _ero-cop_...?"] Payback felt nice, decided Iruka when silence answered him from the other side of the phone and, without waiting for Kakashi to gather his wits back together, he cut off the conversation pressing the red button on his house phone—he told the truth after all: he wasn't a slacker and he still had some work left to do.

Kakashi, on the other hand, sighed and silently cursed Naruto for that stupid nickname he always used... he had to go and give Iruka some ammo to shot back when he teased. Reluctantly he snatched a piece of paper to proceed and do some of his own work while he waited for Sarutobi-san to call him to his office for _THE _talk—he dreaded it... Kakashi would very much have preferred to write out a report, but he knew the old man wanted to hear what his nephew had said from his mouth and he really wasn't looking forward to it. Recalling the boy's facial and bodily reactions to the memories still made the man uneasy just thinking about it. Naruto was basically a carbon copy of his sensei, thing that sometimes made it difficult to rest his eyes on him and _not _remember how hollow, shunken and **dead **Minato had looked when he had arrived at the Namikaze house... at the same time, Kakashi's oi had his mother's exhuberant character and every time Naruto jumped at him when he went to visit, the bloody image of a lifeless Kushina was hard to keep locked away. Another question that worried Kakashi was what to do when all the tests on the bodies will be completed and the funeral could finally be performed... what then? Will Naruto have the strength to separete definitely from his parents and sister?... Will Kakashi himself?

The cop sighed, giving up on writing the report, reclined on his chair and picked up his smut novel to cover his eyes; the depressing thoughts had smashed down his mood and now he only wished to go home and sleep off the rest of the day, but he knew he couldn't so he let his mind wander.

_**[Flashback]**_

_Kakashi had been cursing all the way from the gym to his sensei's house: the weekly session of training with Gai always left him exhausted and drained of most of his energy, so much so that he was pratically dragging his weary body along the pavement, rather than simply walking. He had been beyond glad when the other teenager had told him a week prior that he had all the intention of becoming a teacher (a P.E. teacher, of course), or open a dojo, as soon as they graduated from high school, because Kakashi really wasn't looking forward to have daily training with the bushy-eyebrowed young man if he could help it; not to mention he would have risked having Gai as a partner and _that _was the last thing he wanted._

_With one last shudder, Kakashi let a small smile stretch his mouth as Minato sensei's home came into view right before his eyes. The blond man had called him earlier in the morning, voice excited like that of a ten year-old (and Kakashi had no difficulty imaging his role model bouncing on his feet, undoubltely giddy for some reason) as he demanded that his favorite student came over as soon as school and his usual hour of training was over, because he had great news to share. H__e had rolled his eyes at the antics but had agreed immediately - it _was _Minato-sensei after all, he wouldn't deny the man anything if he could. Lost in thought as he was, Kakashi didn't notice he had reached his former home (although he _still _considered it as such) and that he had been standing in front of the door for a good minute... with a light, self-indulgent, chuckle and a shake of his head, the late teenager finally knocked before taking a couple of steps back, placing some space between himself and the wooden door to prevent his face from having an impromptu meeting with it - event that seemed to happen far too often when Kushina-san answered the door._

_He could hear a ruckus coming from inside the house and his brows drew together minutely, wondering what might have caused Kushina-san to yell at her husband so fiercely, but his thoughts were cut short as the door was finally opened. "Kakashi! Good, you here..." was Minato's blurted greeting, the man had a sweat drop running down his temple as he shot a look behind his back; the young man was about to question the shouting when he caught sight of Kushina-san stomping quickly towards her _dearest _- Kakashi would swear her hair was floating around her head in a dark-red aura of anger - who was sweating even more, not able to move. "Ku-Kushina-chan... please calm—"_

_"Don't say a word!" interrupted the angry woman. "How could you do that! You knew how important _it _was... but you couldn't resist, could you?" her voice had taken on a sultry tone that was far from calming the two men (by now Kakashi was sweating too even if he hadn't done anything at all) in front of her; she stopped some feet away from her husband and threw the object she was holding in her right hand - a videotape - with lightning speed and it was only thanks to sheer instinct and his own speed that Minato was capable to avoid the projectile aimed at his forehead... however, as soon as his brain caught up with his body, the man realized Kakashi had been standing right behind hi__—SBAM!_

"Ouch... that hurt for sure..."_Minato winched sympathetically at the prone body of his favorite apprentice, twitching away as a bright red vertical line marking the spot where edge of the videotape connected to his face began to form immediately - and immediately started to swell, proving the force behind the throw. ____Uzumaki ____Kushina was a dangerous woman. And Kakashi swore to himself, while still out cold at the Namikaze household's doorstep, that he would work to exhaustion on his reflexes from that moment onward. "Kakashi?... Kakashi?" he could hear distantly his sensei's voice calling him but he couldn't bring himself to respond in any other way that didn't involve moaning helplessly or twitching involuntarily... the young officer in training could also feel poking at his forehead - which was what caused him to twitch in the first place - and wanted to punch whoever of the other two responsible for it, but the chances that the poker could be Kushina-san was enough of a threat to decide against waking and yelling. "Aww, Kushina, you killed my student! What can I do without him no____—Kushina-chan! Stop that!"_

_______Yep, Kakashi would _definitely _______stay where he was. No waking up and yelling at Kushina Uzumaki____—only those having a death wish would do that, and he thought ____________today____________ had gone close to it enough to last him a life time._

___________"Yeah, yeah..." the woman's voice sounded awfully uncaring of Kakashi's health, even though the teen was just as important a figure for her as he was for her husband: alas, the wrath of a woman when someone - even her dearest - dared to delete her favorite TV show could turn the most gentle lady into a Fury (let's not stop to point out that if Kushina ever heard someone referring to her as 'lady' she would smash said person through a wall, as she took such a thing as the deepest insult one could throw her way). "Ah, Hatake... I'm very disappointed in you, I thought you were better than this." Kushina spoke, not minding the exasperated look Minato was giving her, switching her (rather painful) poking from the young man's forehead to his ribs and adding a little more force as she went on with her one-sided speech. "I thought I could trust you with the 'secret' we were about to let you on, but I guess I put too much faith in you if you're dead because of this pitiful blow..." she ended with a deep sigh and a shake of her head._

___________Across from the woman, Minato Namizake was staring at his wife astonished. "You call _that ___________a pitiful blow?" he asked, stabbing the poor teenager dead on the swelling would and causing a string of mumbled curses to fly out of said youngster's mouth. "A normal person would be in a coma for a week!"_

___________Kushina, standing up and turning to head back inside, waved a hand at him, dismissing his words. "He'll live... and if he doesn't wake up in ten minutes, it means he really was nothing special, after all." she paused a moment to pick up the discarded videotape, then, "Come on, bring him in. We _do ___________have something important to tell him, have we?" even though Minato couldn't see it, he knew Kushina had a smile on her lips as she said that... she was as eager as him to see Kakashi's reaction to their news._

_-x-_

_No later than those ten minutes, Hatake Kakashi had regained consciousness and was now holding a packet of ice to his abused forehead, keeping a wary eye on Kushina in case she went berserk again and decided that throwing chairs was much better than throwing simple video tapes. His sensei entered the living room in that moment, bringing a glass of cold tea to the young man sitting on the couch. "Suman, Kakashi, I should have taken that..." said Minato gesturing to the lump with a sweat drop, "I moved without thinking."_

_Kakashi shoved the apology to the side with a wave. "It's those reflexes that've saved you before..." he said, "and I've been training with Gai, as you know, and as much as it pains me to admit it... it was useful." he finished with a faint grimace that made the other man chuckle._

_"Yes, I hear he's somewhat of a fan of training and that he's very skilled." supplied Minato, who had heard wonders from one of his colleagues about Maito Gai, the 'Green Beast' of Kawarima (Konoha's public high school) due to his post as captain of the taijutsu club. The kid had wiped out almost every opponent during the interscholastic championships since he started attending the school. "Not a lot of people would willingly go up against him, so for you to train with him, it means you recognize his abilities."_

_Kakashi stayed silent for a moment then, "You actually think I do that willingly...?" he sighed as if defeated. "I thought you knew me better, sensei... Gai _forces _me to spar."_

_"Oh come on, Kakashi, you know as well as I do you wouldn't do it if you didn't appreciate the exercise."_

_"...Sensei, he sticks that awful spandex suit in front of my face every time, trying to get me to wear it: I _have _to beat him for that. It's morality imposing me to do it for the sake of mankind!" __Minato nodded, fully understanding the heavy burden placed on his student's shoulders, before laughing out loud unable to stay serious anymore. "It's at time like these" continued Kakashi, "that I can't help but curse Obito for ditching me. I mean, I understand that his father insists on him attending the family's dojo, but once in a while he could flip him off..."_

_"That's not everyday you sulk like this, Kakashi." replied the blond man with a smile before adding, "But what would Obito think, hearing you say you miss him as a sparring partner...?" the smile turned into a sly grin at the other's horrified expression._

_"You woulnd't!"_

_"Oh, I dunno about that..." was the vague response._

_"SENSEI!"_

_"I see you two are having fun, 'ttebane." interrupted Kushina coming into the room with a tray of freshly made sandwiches, she set it on the low coffee table and sat beside Kakashi, patting the young man on the leg closest to her. "So, Hatake-kun," begun the red-haired woman, a thin sardonic vein in her voice, "there's a reason you're here... beside the obvious pleasure to see you, of course... we wanted you to be the first to know." The mood turned serious and Kakashi could feel the faint tingle in the pit of his stomach indicating apprehension - silence reigned for some time and the teenager was starting to feel the suspense getting at him, he wanted to say 'What is it? Whatisit?', but kept quiet until, finally, the blond Namikaze spoke up._

_"Yes, you see... we wanted to tell you first..." he paused and let a bright, blinding smile blossom on his lips, "we're going to have a baby!"_

_He was shocked. His eyes shifted between light blue and pale grey, both pairs were sparkling with a happiness so great and pure Kakashi couldn't resist, he let a big smile on his lips too. "That's great, Sensei, Kushina-nee-san! Congratulations!"_

**_[End Flashback]_**

He still remembered how happy they had been that day, all three of them, holding a private party to celebrate the news. Kakashi opened his eye and took away the volume of _Icha Icha_, closing it and tossing it on the desk—a pang of melancholy and sadness accompanying the memory and tainting it with a bitter tang in the back of his throat. He sighed, wishing nothing but to leave the police station and throw himself n his bed, possibly sleeping off the entire rest of the day... instead, Itachi suddenly appeared beside him, after having exited the boss' office, and informed him Sarutobi was waiting for him; the grey-haired man thanked him with a nod and, sighing again, he walked toward a _very _unpleasant meeting.

* * *

"Iruka-san...?" the voice snapped him from his concentration. He turned his head to rest his eyes on Gaara, who had quietly entered the living room where he was doing the work that had plied up during the festivities, smiled and beckoned the boy to come closer - a little break was what he needed.

"Yes, Gaara-kun? Did you need something?"

"Not really... I just wanted to ask a question..." Gaara seemed a little reluctant in saying what it was that he wanted to say... his normally blank expression was distorted by a frown that deepened as seconds went by... _"Arguing with himself over the question?"_ thought Iruka, slightly amused and not understanding how close he had gone to the truth. "Don't worry, Gaara-kun, you can ask me anything you want." prompted him with a smile that froze when the red-haired opened his mouth.

"Why no one came to ask me about Oji-sama?" silence reigned. The social assistant was shocked, that was possibly the last question he had been expecting and to hear those words come from a seven year-old didn't help him any... now that he thought about it, it _was _strange that nobody from the police had came over yet to question Gaara, after all an officer had already called him to know if he was acquainted or if he had ever met Iseki-san - and they had also requested for a copy of Gaara's file with all the info on the boy's family situation... but no one had come to listen to the boy's version of what happened. The options were two, as far as Iruka could guess: either they already had a clear picture of the circumstances which lead to Yashamaru's death, or they didn't think the child would be of help and thought it best to spare him from reviving what surely was a traumatizing memory.

"... I don't really know, Gaara-kun." he answered to child with a small shrug, "Maybe they don't think it necessary to stress you with a retelling of what happened..."

"But..." Gaara seemed to be having some difficulty expressing his feelings, "I was there...! They should ask me what happened!"

"From what they told me, they already classified your uncle's death as suicide... or are you telling me it wasn't?" Iruka added that last part in afterthought, an eyebrow slightly raised.

Gaara seemed to froze for a second, then shook his head. "He can't get off so easily!" he said, raising his voice uncharacteristically and surprising the social assistant. "He beat me! He tried to kill me at least _twice _and last time he almost succeeded! I'd be dead instead of him if I hadn't run away...!" he finished, winded from the unusual spasming of his diaphragm at yelling in that way. The boy was pale and he had started to sway a little, like all his energy had been drained from his body; Iruka was starting to get worried.

"Gaara... I think it's better if you go lay down for a while, you don't look good..." he told the seven year-old, before gently stirring him towards his room. Gaara didn't oppose, letting himself being led by the man and laying on his bed; he turned to the side, giving his back to the man and Iruka took it as a sign that he wanted to stay alone and left, closing the door quietly.

The social assistant sighed briefly, silently thanking the Gods that Naruto was at Sasuke's for the time being, otherwise the blond kid would have made a scene at seeing his red-haired friend so distressed.

-x-

**"What was all that 'bout, kiddo...?"** came Shukaku's voice after more than five minutes of complete silence. The demon was a little concerned for his host (not that he would admit it out loud), the child had been restless all morning, the wheels of his mind continuously revolving in never-ending cycles until everything he could think about was the death of his bastard uncle; it hand't been until Gaara decided to bring up the topic with the ningen that Shukaku had begun to sense something was somewhat wrong with his lifelong 'partner'. **"Ya almost told the human what I did... it could've ended bad, yanno."** he felt the need to point it out, even though he could sense the other was barely listening to him. **_"Not that he would've believed ya..."_** he added to himself.

"..." Gaara didn't make a movement to indicate he had heard the demon speak, nor did he move from his fetal position on the bed, eyes tightly closed and brows drawn together as he fought to calm his shallow breathing.

It was going to be a loooong afternoon if Gaara kept acting that way - not that he did it on purpose, but when he retreated into himself like that, it was very difficult to take him back out... it will take Shukaku at least the rest of the day to coax the boy back into a conscious state of mind—it's in times such as these that the sand spirit was glad for Naruto's presence: the blond seemed able to reach Gaara no matter how deep or how far he withdrawn, he had always had that ability.

He wished the annoying kid was here.

A low whimper left the red-haired's lips unknowingly.

Shukaku sighed, hoping Naruto would be back soon.

* * *

It was well past six in the evening, when Kakashi Hatake finally left the police station - he was completely drained of any energy, so much so he wanted badly to just call for a cab and have it take him home because even the thought alone of driving himself made his feet, his hands, his whole body feel like lead. The meeting with Sarutobi had been, just as predicted, uncomfortable and depressing for it made reappear in the forefront of his mind a series of unpleasant images that continued to merge with old memories... all in all, Kakashi didn't really know how he managed to force his voice out through the acid taste rising in his throat while informing the chief of Naruto's witnessing. Not even the feel of the smooth surface of a red-covered novel in his left hand had the power to lift his mood from where it was, under his shoes.

He was glad he didn't have to go at the Umino household, that night... he didn't think he would stand seeing his nephew after today. His heart clenched at the thought, yet he couldn't bring himself to change his destination: a bottle of strong sakè definitely sounded good and a dreamless sleep even better.

He was about to open the door of his car to get inside when a foot clad in an elegant pair of shoes landed on it, preventing him from doing so; a quick glance at the owner of said foot told Kakashi that Uchiha Itachi had some business with him. He tried to galre the other man away, but through experience the grey-haired man knew it was useless—as if he had heard him, Itachi pulled a glare of his own (one of those where more than actually _glaring_ he stared you down until you naturally cowered) daring him to forcefully remove him from his car. When nothing but a silent staring match came out of the confrontation, the Uchiha inwardly rolled his black eyes and finally spoke. "You are coming home with me."

"No I'm not." hissed Kakashi, weakly pulling at the blocked door.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I am not."

"You **are **coming with me."

"_No_."

That situation was becoming ridiculous in Itachi's opinion... the Hatake was well known for joking around, and on a every-day basis he didn't mind that attitude for it helped ease a little of the constant tension lurking inside the police station, but the childish act - while possibly unconscious - was getting on his nerves. He was about to tell the other man that, when he realized something... "Naruto-kun won't be there... I already asked Umino-san to come pick him up; Sasuke will sleep over there." he paused to let his words sink in, then, "Now, _you are coming with me_." and with that, he grabbed Kakashi's coat and literally dragged him to his car, tossing him into the passenger seat and started the car heading for his house.

-x-

"—Y'knoww... 'm fucking tired of alwaysh looshing people... Itashi-_hic_! Ya underrrshand, righ'...?" Kakashi slurred, waving a brown glass bottle of sakè - the man had long ago forgotten the small porcelain cup and had started chugging the liquor directly from the source, Itachi let him do what he wanted and merely listened to his friend speak on, let him spill everything that had plied up since they had taken up Namizake's case. As much as the other tried to conceal it, the dark-haired Uchiha knew him well enough to catch the signs and the way Kakashi had looked that morning had worried him more than a little (not that anyone could tell, anyways) because he knew it had most likely to do with the 'talk' he had with Naruto-kun... it must have been as difficult for the Hatake to sit through the tale as it was for the kid to tell it...

He didn't blame nor judge the man for wanting to drawn everything with alcohol, but was better if someone kept an eye on him as well.

"... Firsht my mum, then Obito, then me fatherrr... now senshei and hish family..." continued Kakashi after a nod from Itachi, "We're too fucking young to looshe all them..."

Itachi couldn't agree more. Both had lost a lot of precious people, although the circumstances were somewhat different: Kakashi lost his mother due to illness, while Obito (who had been Itachi's own cousin and one of the few he had ever respected) and his father had died in mission, and Namikaze-san together with his wife and daughter had fallen victim of a senseless revenge - the raven-haired Uchiha hated to hear when a crime was committed in name of revenge: it was the lowest feeling in a human being, a mix of jealousy and anger and malice stirred into one ugly idea of vengeance.

His case was similar yet not... the Uchiha Clan (because it was once one of the largest and most influent families in Konoha) had been literally eradicated during a fierce, violent inter-clan war where members of the same family had tried to overpower each other, going as far as to physically remove any obstacles from the way and it didn't matter if they were fathers, cousins, godparents, not even children were spared if they were present. The only thing that had saved both Itachi and his otouto had been their mother, she had send the two away when the chaos had gotten worse and it was a fortune, thought Itachi, that Sasuke had been too small to really remember that time.

Without them realizing, time had passed by quickly and Kakashi was well on his way towards dream land, slouched on the sofa sideways with the sakè bottle on the floor, spilling the few drops still inside. Itachi shook his head minutely, ponytail brushing his neck as he did so, and went to retrieve a blanket for the other. He hoped the dreamless sleep he wanted was worth the hangover he will have in the morning... somehow he believed he would have to go through another evening like this again some time soon: the permission for the funeral shouldn't be long in coming by now...


End file.
